Secrets Can Kill
by StanaLovak97
Summary: Everyone has a dirty little secret, and the female brawlers are no exception. And now someone is using the secrets that Alice, Julie, Mira and Runo possess to manipulate them...in ways that could get them killed. Alice/Shun, Dan/Runo, Billy/Julie, Mira/Ace. R&R please!
1. Prologue - Witnesses

**A/N: Sup guys? Hoping you are all good! Well now, let me introduce you to my new fic in a long time, and the first written in English: Secrets Can Kill! This time, it's a Bakugan Battle Brawlers fic, mixing romance and suspense/crime. Don't be afraid to read and review, it's always helpful, even when it's to be hard on me (yup, considering I have to exercise my English some more, and how bad it is compared to others). Pairings will be mostly Shun/Alice, but also Dan/Runo, Billy/Julie, Ace/Mira and others to come. I'll develop them through the story though, so don't expect too early for some. The Bakugans will be featured too, but there might be some things not accurate, since I only watched Season 1 + half of New Vestroia. Enjoy!**

**Summary: Everyone has a dirty little secret, and the female brawlers are no exception. And now someone is using the secrets that Alice, Julie, Mira and Runo possess to manipulate them...in ways that could get them killed.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bakugan Battle Brawlers, sadly. If I did, Alice and Shun would be dating long ago and she would still be there *gross sobbing***

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**Prologue: Witnesses**

3 months ago

Tonight was a rather out-of-ordinary Friday night for Alice Gehabich. Usually, the red-head spent her Fridays revising and doing homework, occasionally cuddling on her living room's couch with hot chocolate and a movie. Yet tonight was different, for there was no more homework to be done, no exams to revise for. This Friday night was Bayview High's annual formal dance; the night marking the end of the girls' junior year, the night where everyone from school would reunite and party all night long. At first, Alice hadn't wanted to go. The next day, she would fly back to Russia with her grandfather for the holidays, and she still had lots of stuff to pack. Of course, the group had decided something else; since it was her last day with them, and they wouldn't see each other for 2 months, they had talked her into coming. After some time, she thought it might be a good idea to end the year on a positive note (plus, she had already been asked out by someone, and hadn't felt like declining).

After all, what could go wrong?

"Oh nothing, just pretty much everything", Alice thought. Okay, maybe not everything, just one thing or two. She was exaggerating a little too much, she realized, that would be normal. This wasn't her usual..."environment", after all. Alice rather enjoyed the silence and calmness, which she didn't get as much as she would have wished for; with Runo Misaki and Julie Makimoto for best friends, tranquility was definitely a luxury she couldn't afford. Even Mira Clay, another best friend of hers, had her mood swings every once on a while. But after so much time, she had grown to have a certain level of tolerance when yells and squeals were involved. Still, tonight was a different matter.

Loud music echoed in the school's gymnasium, reconverted for the occasion into a ball room, and Chris Corner's Nightlife blasted in her ears. "I want to know how to survive in the nightlife...", right Chris, me too. The tune was nice and pretty accurate - although not as true as After Every Party I Die - , but it hurt to have it so near, deafening her. Here and there, projectors sent rays of colorful lights around the room, most of them blinding the teen and making her dizzy. Looking around, she remtarked that she wasn't the only one. Most people moved like zombies, both on the dancefloor and on their seats. Groans, drunk dances and some others keeping themselves from puking, their faces red and slightly puffy. Few were still sane, apparently, considering the amount of punch remaining, and the heavy scent of alcohol in the air. Else, the party might have been considered as enjoyable. In corners of the room, she spotted small groups of girls gossiping, others making-out rather...aggresively, and not always with the opposite sex. Now that's the kind of party Julie likes.

Speaking of her...where was she?

"Hey guys, where's Julie?" she asked to Runo and Mira. The three of them leaned against an improvised bar, Runo and Mira seemed to have trouble staying straight on their seats. Stoned, probably. After dancing on all songs, even the slow ones, and drinking so much punch, they could hardly stand on their heels without risking to trip. The red-head wouldn't have been surprised, had the punch been spiked. Things like that always happened.

"Huh? Oh Julie, hum, dunno," the blunette and other red-head muttered groggily, "probably with Billy". That last part was said in a rather bitter tone. Alice felt bad for the duo. Of all the group, Julie and her had been the only ones with dates, the Australian with her long-time boyfriend Billy Gilbert, and herself with Klaus Von Hertzon, school posh and royalty, all-time drama queen...huh king. She didn't even remember why she had actually accepted his invitation to the dance; probably the puppy eyes he'd made at her. Back then, he hadn't been the first to ask her out, but she prefered to go with someone she knew instead of going with a fan boy of hers. Mira and Runo had fan boys of their own of course, since they were part of the most popular girls at Bayview, but they were too oblivious to their presence. And then, it was hard to digest the fact that your crush was with someone else, or that he didn't exist at all. Runo had a thing for Dan Kuso, one of Bayview's most popular boys, definitely not single, yet she would never admit it. Mira, though, had had a few dates with a certain Baron, who hadn't shown up at the party; what was the point, anyway? Mira only liked him the way you like a brother, a friend. Simply put, nothing too serious. If there was some jealousy amongst the group, they wouldn't let it show. In any case, the girls liked each other way too much to staymad for long because of stupid things.

"Hey guys" a bubbly voice said from behind them. The girls turned. There was Julie Makimoto, cheerleader and insatiable shopaholic, standing right in front of them with a grin too big for her face spread on her lips. At least someone here looked satisfied with what she saw. Julie was radiant in her baby pink shiny dress and assorted shoes. Alice always felt a tad nervous when she was with her. Julie was a natural beauty, just like her, yet she often found her charms inferior to hers. God knew if she actually had any charm. Right now, she felt a bit self-conscious in her green gown, and she could tell Mira and Runo, respectively clad in black and white, felt the same.

"Julie! Where were you? We were worried sick about you". Instantly, the silver-haired teen was showered with questions she didn't bother to answer. She simply stood, a smile still on her face, a mischievous gleam in her eyes. After a moment she finally decided to talk.

"Don't worry, buddies, I'm good! In fact, good is too small a word to describe what I just lived! Remember that motel near the school I told you about, at the beginning of the year?"

The girls nodded. Julie's smile seemed to become wider - if that was possible.

"Well...Billy and I went there and...well, you could say that we then let nature's laws take over."

The reaction she got from her friends was priceless, and she wished she had her camera right now. They looked at her with wide eyes, their mouths dropping to the floor. She had expected this kind of thing, after all. You don't often hear a friend confessing about her first time.

"OMG JULIE MAKIMOTO WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US BEFORE? HOW WAS IT?" The drunken state was over, and they practically yelled at the glowing girl. A few heads turned in their direction, but they ignored them. Most of the squeals were covered by loud music.

"Sorry girls, but I didn't know before! And you heard me, it was indescribable! AMAZING is an euphemism! I just hope you'll get to experience that soon, right, Alice?"

The mood seemed to darken again, at the last part. Runo and Mira sulked a bit, Alice felt her cheeks heating up. She didn't felt that way towards Klaus, Julie couldn't possibly insinuate that...

"By the way, where is Klaus? Isn't it disrespectful to abandon his date?" She didn't miss the sarcasm in her voice. Julie, like many others, hated him.

"Oh, who cares? I didn't even plan on coming with him!" Alice replied. That was rude, but it was true. In the end, Klaus had only danced a few slows with her, and it wasn't exactly fun; most of the time, he'd talked about his money, his family, his money, his plans for the future...and his money. Then he'd disappeared. She quickly scanned the room, only to find him banging on the boys' restroom, his face a greenish shade. She frowned when she saw this.

"How romantic," Mira remarked beside her. Alice nodded. Oh boy, what a disastrous night. Now she really wanted to get out of here.

"I don't know about you, but I really want to go home. I'll say goodbye and come back, okay?"

The rest of the group nodded. The atmosphere was rather gloomy. She could tell from their faces, seeing the sadness in their reassuring smiles and eyes. Alice herself wanted to cry. She quickly rubbed her eyes, not wanting to ruin everything.

She started to make her way towards a sick Klaus when she heard the scream.

Alarmed, she snapped up her head, her eyess going straight to the spot where her friends remained. They looked alarmed too, and upon seeing her expression they all nodded.

Others were looking everywhere too, taken aback by the sudden sound. So they hadn't been the only ones to hear it.

"The door!" Runo yelled. They stood up, running to the door as fast as they could, not caring about the way their heels made them run slowly. Mira went for it first, leading the others, and pushed the door. The quartet sped up outside, and they got out just in time to witness the scene right in front of them

The body lay on the ground, choking to death. Red flowers opened and spread on various part of her dress. Her face was pale, eyes watery. A knife lay beside the victim. Further , a shadow sped away, dressed in black.

The girls stared, both at the body and the one who'd committed it.

Behind them, a voice called: "Don't just stay there like idiots! Come on, call the police! Help her!"

It was too late anyway. No one could save her.

Before she faded into darkness, Alice heard a scream filling her ears, louder than any pop song.

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**So, any thoughts on this first chapter? Please review! And, friendly reminder that this is just the beginning, secrets are coming soon. But I still have some doubts about the secrets our four friends will have. Here is a list of secrets they could have, please choose your 4 favourite secrets to help me out! :**

**-I'm obsessed with stealing**

**-I'm pregnant, etc…**

**-I have a sickness that might kill me**

**-I cheated in a test/exam**

**-I cheated on my boyfriend**

**-I love someone I shouldn't like (teacher/student implied relationship)**

**-I'm a drug addict/dealer**

**-I murdered someone**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: First, Stana responds to reviews YAAAAAAAAAAAYY! Excuse the behaviour, I haven't had reviews since forever ^^**

**InnocentDiamond: Congratulations on being the very first reviewer! I must add that even though I didn't favourite your stories "Bonds of the Briar" and "Shooting Star Tears", I absolutely LOVE them. Hoping you'll continue Bonds of the briar and keep up the awesomeness. And thanks a lot for the word on the cover art! At first I'd wanted to do a cover art where the girls would look kind of scared, but I prefer it if readers see the girls as brave ones (which they are); sideways was the only way you could see the 4 faces, btw. Also, I'm not really comfortable with scenes with disco dancing, alcohol..either, but I wanted to try something new, and in my mind an intro like that sounded perfect. About what Julie and Billy did...no comment. Was initially a part of the plot too. Concerning Alice w/ Klaus & Mira w/ Baron ? No need to worry, keeping it this way was NEVER part of the plan. I'll try to get Baron a good girlfriend asap, and Alice...well, Shun will most probably get rid of Klaus one way or another. That murder scene other there was pretty crappy, I wanted to publish the story so much it ended up a failure. It's a good thing you can visualise it. Then, we come to the secrets...thanks for making a choice! I agree with that choice, although I'd have gone with cheating on an exam, pregnancy, stealing and the teacher/student relationship. Oh well, I'll change a few settings, get on with that, and we'll see what I get. There again, thanks A LOT for reviewing *sends virtual hugs and cookies***

**Maiden Warrior: Thank you, that means a lot to me! :D I'm afraid the following chapter is pretty crappy, but I hope to get the secrets on soon. And I can totally see the girls having theses secrets, thanks again for your help!**

**Guest reviewer: I know! Sorry about that, too, I'll try to make more efforts in the future :)**

**Previously on Secrets Can Kill:**

**The body lay on the ground, choking to death. Red flowers opened and spread on various part of her dress. Her face was pale, eyes watery. A knife lay beside the victim. Further , a shadow sped away, dressed in black.**

**The girls stared, both at the body and the one who'd committed it.**

**Behind them, a voice called: "Don't just stay there like idiots! Come on, call the police! Help her!"**

**It was too late anyway. No one could save her.**

**Before she faded into darkness, Alice heard a scream filling her ears, louder than any pop song.**

**Off to the first chapter of Secrets Can Kill, ladies and gentlemen! This is simply a chapter to enter the setting of the story, the characters, etc. Still waiting for enough reviews to get the secrets on.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bakugan Battle Brawlers.**

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**Chapter 1**

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Alice snapped her head up, waking up panting. The scream still echoed in her ears, even after the dream had ended. She pressed her right hand to her heart, trying to steady it. Keep calm, Alice, it was a bad dream, just a bad dream. Breathe, inhale, exhale, slowly. Breathe... she remembered the advice her grandfather had told her so often from the times she had nightmares so vivid, and recited it mentally. Slowly, as in deep concentration, she inhaled and exhaled, repeated the gesture again and again. It was becoming a habit, having this nightmare on rewind every night, without any pause. And always the same one, with the group witnessing that poor girl's death. For months, she had been unable to sleep. The night she flied to Russia with her grandfather, the nights following their arrival in the countryside, and the nights after her return to Japan...she couldn't remember the last time she had a peaceful rest.

The worst part of the dream?

It was true.

The others didn't talk about it. When Alice had arrived, the group had taken some time to fetch her at the airport. When she'd seen their faces for the first time in weeks, she hadn't seen much. Happiness at seeing their friend come back, and tiredness from waking up earlier. Yet she'd hinted it wasn't the only reason. Like Alice, they wouldn't bother others with personal problems except when it was an important matter, which apparently hadn't been the case. They barely talked about that, even after Alice moved in Runo's house.

Deep inside, she hoped that Runo hadn't heard her scream. Or had she? She couldn't recall it, and somehow didn't care. As long as she got it out of her head, everything would be good.

"Is something wrong, Alice?"

She turned to the bed set. Hydranoid, freshly awaken and in definitely better shape than her, gazed up at her with one of his three heads.

She held him in her hands, caressing gently the head."Don't worry Hydranoid, I'm good."

"Are you sure?"

She smiled. Good old Hydranoid, acting like the father she almost never had, and doing a pretty good job so far. Her smile spread wider, in an attempt to reassure him.

"Yes. I'm good, now that you're here."

The bakugan seemed to pounder her response, before nodding. "If you say so."

She kissed the top of his head, and placed him back on the bed set.

"FOR THE THOUSANDTH TIME, JULIE MAKIMOTO, HURRY UP BEFORE I RIP YOUR HAIR OFF!"

"OI! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH THE HAIR OR YOU'LL" -

The yells came from the bathroom, apparently. That would be Julie and Runo, arguing on who will get the straightening iron first, she thought. She figured the scream she had supposedly let out earlier might as well have been coming from the bathroom.

Like Alice, Julie had moved to Bayview, and stayed at Runo's until everything at her new house was settled down. Alice already had somewhere to live in, but with her grandfather staying longer in Russia for his research, he had insisted on her not staying alone in an empty house. He would be back soon, she didn't mind waiting. As long as she stayed with her best friends, all was well. She wasn't alone.

Alice got in the corridor. The yells hadn't stopped, and seemed louder than before. Alice smiled, and went to knock. Typical Runo and Julie.

"Guys, are you done yet? Mira will be there in a moment and I'm not even ready."

"NO!"

She sighed. Yup, typical. She knocked again. "Okay then, but I really have to get in, girls."

Before she could continue, the door opened, and she was face-to-face with a fuming Runo and a red-faced Julie.

"Fine then, but before tell her that I saw the straightener first!"

"Huh? You filthy liar, I saw it first!"

Another argument started before her, and she held up her hands in defeat.

"Guys, please! Julie, I think your hair is straight enough now, and if you continue like that you might get it burnt. And Runo, your hair doesn't need any more care, it's perfect this way, I can tell."

"BUT" -

"You heard me. You're both gorgeous, okay?"

It was the truth. Julie's hair was tied in a side ponytail, while Runo had pulled hers in two pigtails. Julie had on shorts, sandals and her cheerleader t-shirt, Runo wore a skirt along with her tight-high socks, sneakers and usual t-shirt.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to shower." She slid between two dumb-founded Runo and Julie, who left the room after her. Alice quickly showered, then dressed with her cow-girl leather boots, a sleeveless white dress and denim jacket. When she got out after combing her messy curls, the others eyed her in a funny way. When she got down in the café, the others were already having breakfast. At the end of their usual table, she spotted some red hair.

"Hey Mira, looking good."

Mira looked up, spotted her and smiled. Her white jacket fell gracefully on her shoulders when she waved at her, showing off her tank top and shorts.

"Same goes for you Gehabich." She went to sit next to her. Alice really liked Mira. The two had met last year when Mira had arrived in the middle of the school year. She had helped her through the school, and now they were the best of friends. Sure, Runo remained her bff, but Mira was like a twin to her. Calm, red-headed, sweet; the only differences being her fierceness and blue eyes.

Along with the others, she ate her breakfast while talking to the others. The usual things, which classes they had today, forthcoming plans for the week, what they wanted to do this Monday after school. She was going to add something in the conversation when her eyes caught sight of the newspaper's front page. She gestured at it to Mrs Misaki.

"Mrs Misaki, could I have the newspaper please?"

"Sure, Alice, here you are." She passed it to her. Alice grabbed it and stared at the front page. Big bold letters took the whole page.

NEW INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE POLICE ON THE JESSICA SUJEEUN MURDER. A picture decorated the background, showing a girl's corpse on the floor, ready to be sent to the morgue in a plastic bag, her dress bloody and her hair a mess. Alice had some trouble to swallow her toast and tea.

Jessica Sujeeun was the girl from her dream.

The room became silenced all of a sudden. The group had noticed the red-head's distressed expression, and turned to her. "Anything new on the affair?"

She shook her head, her eyes still on the paper. "Nothing really useful. They simply dug out her background and history, turns out her family is powerful enough to have a few enemies ready at anything to threaten their safety." She sighed. That wasn't fair at all, what happened to Jessica. She knew little about her, only that she'd been part of the Honour's Class and the cheerleading squad. Julie would know more than her on the girl. "Poor girl."

The atmosphere was solemn, a tad cold. The girls bowed their heads, staring down at their breakfast. They were not so hungry anymore, Alice herself felt her stomach retracting. None of them really knew he girl, yet it was still sad to have someone from their school killed, especially in a small town like Wardington. There were few crimes in town, most of them being occasional robberies. And now a murder...The room fell silent, until Mr Misaki popped in.

"Well, girls, not going to school today?"

This seemed to wake them up from a trance. In a rush they got up, almost breaking their bowls and cups, grabbed their bags and hurried to the door.

"Hey, aren't you forgetting something girls?"

They turned back. Runo went to her mother and father to kiss them goodbye, and the others followed suit. "Bye everyone!"

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**A/N: Well, this is the end of this first and awfully crappy chapter. It's more of an introduction than anything, and a bad one with that. I'll understand if you guys are disappointed, but don't worry, the real thing is coming soon! Don't forget to choose your 4 favourite secrets here:**

**- I'm obsessed with stealing**

**- I'm pregnant, etc…**

**- I have a sickness that might kill me**

**- I cheated in a test/exam**

**- I cheated on my boyfriend**

**- I love someone I shouldn't like (teacher/student implied relationship)**

**- I'm a drug addict/dealer**

**- I murdered someone**


	3. Our Little Secrets

**A/N: Off to that second chapter with reviews in entrée - don't mind the choice of words, I've been watching way too much Hannibal lately.**

**InnocentDiamond: I love your perception of things, really, THAT's female solidarity; if only there were more people like you on this planet. Same here, I only use a blow dryer but without any mirror. At first my hair looks okay, until my curls decide to have fun with each other and turn my hair into the Amazon forest. And I must say I'm not fond of cheerleaders either, but I read so many fan fics with Julie as a cheerleader, in the end it was impossible not to see her as one. I feel bad for Alice, too; the dream happened after the accident, not before btw. It doesn't make matters better though, I guess.**

**bakugan alice lover: Thanks for choosing your favourite secrets! Helped a lot :)**

**Cup of Violet Tea: It is that dream, yes. And...a talented mind/gift? I don't see why she'd have such a thing, I mean, it's true that the episode is messing her up, but I don't have supernatural over there. Another time maybe...About the poll thing, I find it easier to put it on chapters, this way I can see who really follows the story. I'm not what you'd call a popular writer, but I'm okay with it. Thanks for voting!**

**Maiden Warrior: Thanks so much! Here, have some chocolate and virtual hugs and a double high-five for being so amazing! =D And yup, I did pick your secrets, I'd like to mix them with other secrets...what's better than only one secret? Two and more! And I'm starting to introduce them on this chapter, so stay tuned for it!**

**So, the poll so far:**

**-I'm obsessed with stealing (kleptomania) - 3 votes**

**-I'm pregnant - 1 vote**

**-I have a sickness that might kill me - 4 votes**

**-I cheated in a test/exam - 1 vote**

**-I cheated on my boyfriend - 2 votes**

**-I love someone I shouldn't like (eg: teacher/student implied relationship) - 2 votes**

**-I'm a drug addict/dealer - 1 vote**

**-I murdered someone - 2 votes**

**My gratitude goes to InnocentDiamond, Maiden Warrior, Cup Of Violet Tea and bakugan alice lover for voting on their favourite secrets! Results are rather mixed, I must say. Of course, just because there are more votes on a secret than on another doesn't mean we will get these very same secrets for the girls. After all, what's the point of having a secret if it's obvious, huh? ;)**

**Anyway, let's get to the point, people! Here is the third chapter of Secrets Can Kill. No spoilers, I'll let you find out for yourself. God, I don't even know what I'm up to right now.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bakugan Battle Brawlers, only OC Jessica Sujeeun.**

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**Chapter 2: Our Little Secrets**

Usually the girls go to school by bus or by walking. Today was one of these exceptions. Runo wanted to try the engine of her car, to make sure the technician had done his job well. Not that she didn't trust him; she simply didn't trust anyone with her car. The others never questioned her behaviour around it: they'd have behaved the same way, had they had their license and a car as killing as Runo's. The car was a '69 Chevy impala, black and glossy, roaring like a beast on the road. It was Runo's pride and joy, paid with her waitress salary at the Misaki Café, and "worth more than any of Kuso's living dead moving pieces of junk", as she quoted. Somehow, it was true.

After they'd arrived in Bayview's parking lot, she urged the others to go ahead, for she desired to check the car over again.

"You sure, Runo?" Alice asked the blunette, already getting bags out of the back.

"Yes, don't worry" she replied with a smile, handing them their stuff. "I have to revise for Suzuki's test anyway, you'd get bored waiting."

She winced, along with Mira and Julie. Mrs Suzuki was one of Bayview High's most strict teachers, and her tests were literally hell printed on black and white endless photocopies. Even for a B+ straight student like Runo, economics tests with her were horror. She couldn't complain much, though. Alice, unlike the others, had chosen scientific studies, requiring 24/7 work. It didn't seem to bother her though, what with her grandfather being a world-famous scientist. Julie had chosen design and textile, unsurprisingly, and for her all was well.

Julie shrugged, grabbing her cheerleader gear. She looked around, looking for Billy and not finding him, and then rushed to the entrance. Mira took off after her, grabbing her bags.

"You know, you're gonna have to do something about him, one day" a voice said from behind Mira.

"Huh?" Mira gazed at Alice, who'd re-joined her. The other red-head was gazing over her shoulder, and nodded towards a spot on the parking lot. Turning around and following her gaze she twisted her neck in time to see Baron talking rather vividly with Dan, both boys walking to the entrance amongst the crowd. When she remarked him, she merely shrugged after facing Alice.

"Oh, you mean him. I thought you talked about the other "him"". As she expected, her friend's eyes went wide, a shocked expression painted on her face.

"Mira, don't react like that! I know you don't feel like that towards him, but still..." Mira rolled her eyes. A frown was now plastered on her face, replacing the early shock. But then, she hadn't been as shocked as before, had she?

"So what? I'm about one hundred percent positive he doesn't like me at all." In Alice's chocolate eyes she could see her reflection perfectly well, despite their dark shade. They sent her back what she wanted to see. Her own face, cool and indifferent, composed and not showing any distinctive emotion. Good, she thought. But Alice wouldn't leave her alone on that. Said red-head raised an eyebrow.

"That's not what I saw Friday afternoon, when he took all your books and bags and carrying them to Runo's without pausing. Emphasis on no pause, please", she remarked.

Mira rolled her eyes. Alice wouldn't let it down. But then, she always remained calm and serene when she spoke, Mira wondered where she got all that self-control. Even with that shocked tone, she perceived a hint of worry. Alice cared deeply for everyone, and her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend wasn't forgotten in the list. She read through everyone like open books, and guessed all their emotions and secrets. She knows everything about me, Mira thought, and hiding what I know from her would be like not trusting her.

But I can' tell her, at least not now, can I?

She stared back into her eyes, now taking a more serious tone: "Look, Alice, I understand that you want everything to go well for me, but this is between me and Baron, and the two of us do have a thing together - not in that way, but it's pretty close in a way. You'll know soon enough, okay?"

Alice stared back, pondering her friend's words, and then nodded.

"Well, since you say so...", she gave her a bright smile, the kind most boys melted for, the one that seemed to make everything better.

Mira smiled back, and the two walked away to the inside. Under her hair, she felt her bakugan, Wilda, jump on her shoulder from her jacket pocket, poking her neck lightly.

"Alice is right, Mira, you're going to have to do something about the two of you when you get some time. And not just about him!"

Said girl rolled her eyes. "Please, not you too, Wilda" she murmured. "Trust me, everything's going to be fine soon, it's just a matter of time".

She heard a light snort, but chose to ignore it.

She would be seeing Baron, but not now. Now was the time to make sure He was here.

* * *

Inside the car, Runo fumbled nervously through her notes. The papers were in a huge mess, not correctly numbered and sorted out, most lessons missing a page or two, some even mixed with older ones. Damn, where is that lesson on demand and offers and markets? In the end she did manage to find it, well organized and highlighted, but she still had trouble concentrating. She couldn't quite catch the words, getting the definitions wrong and not understanding half the paragraphs. "What the hell is going on with me?" she thought, pressing a hand to her forehead. She wasn't feverish or sick, and yesterday she had understood and memorized absolutely everything.

"Maybe I'm just nervous for the test" she said out loud. It wouldn't be the first time something like that happened. After all, tests were the easiest way to let out your frustration and stress, right? Yes, that would be it.

Unless it were this stupid bitch's high pitched voice which kept her from thinking straight.

Jenny, Runo thought. Acid climbed up her throat, already burning her sides. How bad was it that she always felt an urge to vomit whenever the girl was around, on a scale from 1 to 10? 10.5, definitely. Every high school had that one girl, the cliché kind of girl you just had to hate - or love, if you were some snotty or snobby person; that one girl who flirted with anything walking on two legs and specifically of male gender; that girl who considered herself as the best cheerleader on Earth; that girl who loved to embarrass you in front of everyone, including your friends, her best friend and her clique; that girl who could plot something nasty on you yet whose brain was a microscopic pea. In Bayview, that would be Jenny. Or her best friend, Jewls. Or her clique, The JJ Dolls - with capitals please! But mostly Jenny.

And right now, Jenny stood right in front of her car, giving Runo her back. It was hard not to recognise her, with her reddish purple hair and fake loud laugh. Not to forget the famous checkered bustier and yellow frilly skirt, push-up tight size and covering only one quarter of her tights; plus the red pumps with heels so high it was a miracle she didn't trip over.

And right now, she was talking to a brunette who seemed rather interested in what she was saying.

Hang on, wasn't that brunette familiar?

Forgetting her revisions, she leaned over the front, trying to catch a glimpse of the brunette she was talking to.

Brown hair...brown eyes...riding steampunk-ish glasses...red jacket...

Hey, isn't that...Dan?

Her heart skipped a couple beats in her chest, her blood circulation run short, her members becoming stiff, she felt her mouth press into a hard line.

The guy hadn't moved, and smiled a goofy smile at Jenny, who jabbed a finger in his chest. He didn't seem to mind. At all.

Her fingers tightened on the wheel, the car keys digging their pointy edges in her short's pocket. What would it be like, to start the car and to run her over, to hear her scream before hitting the glass? To watch her bleed as she would fall to the ground, trying to breathe and to call for help? What would it be -

Wait, why am I even thinking that? She suddenly seemed to regain consciousness of what was happening, and a grimace of horror and disgust painted itself on her face. Runo leaned back on her seat. God, what the hell is happening to me?

Okay, running over Jenny with her car wasn't a bad idea, since she'd wanted to kill her many times before...but never in such a brutal and graphic way!

And what were you thinking, having those thoughts about Dan? He's your friend, for God's sake. Her breath came out in slow puffs, ragged. Dan. Friend. Those two words echoed in her head, refusing to get out. Friend. Dan wasn't what she'd call a friend. The two had met when they were kids, and ever since they hadn't stopped messing with each other, always arguing whenever they found an occasion. Their fights were their only conversations; it was the same during their classes. They sat together sometimes, when Mira didn't have common classes with them. When she wasn't keeping him from cheating on her, she would listen to the teachers and take notes; sometimes she'd just stare at him while he slept during lectures (which he often did) and contemplate how cute and innocent he looked when he -

She slammed her papers on her forehead. Hard, but not hard enough to hurt. What am I getting myself into?

She removed the lessons off her face, in time to see Baron Leltoy drag Dan away to the school entrance, and Jenny pouting at his sudden departure.

Ha! Suck that, bitch!

...What? She deserved it.

A sudden ticking sound caught her attention. Runo looked at her watch: 7:50. Great, she mumbled, now I don't have enough time to revise.

She grabbed her notes and stuffed them in her bag, thinking that some calm was all she needed to remember her lesson off by heart. Then she had an idea. Not the best of ideas, but an idea, still.

Oh well, fuck, she decided. It's too late no to get back, anyway. I don't have any other choice.

* * *

The pills tasted horrible in her mouth, a weird and funny-smelling combination of things she had trouble identifying. The whole blend of medicine tasted like household products, with an aftertaste that reminded her of hospital smells, newly cleaned houses with too much detergent. She should have been used to taking them after all those weeks, but their white colour made her sick, just from looking, and just letting their side linger on her tongue was a torture. Her taste buds were becoming way too sensible to this horror.

She grimaced, feeling them at the back of her tongue, and quickl swallowed with water. It took only a sip to swallow them, but half her bottle of water to wash off the taste. At least she didn't have PE today. When they had to run laps in the sun, she often felt the pills climb up from her stomach, the taste at the back of her throat forced her to excuse herself to go to the toilet and vomit the content of her stomach. Since it was only a side effect, she didn't feel like talking about it to the others. There was a lot she didn't tell them.

Julie was already dressed for cheerleading training, she and Mira stood on each side of their friend to keep people from seeing her take the painkillers. They grimaced too, at Alice's expression, but not because they were disgusted. Alice had told her long ago that she was of fragile constitution, and the sudden climate change between Russia and Japan didn't help much her condition. It looked quite obvious that Alice was ill. Her pale complexion was natural, and her gentle face and expressions tended to make her look harmless and feeble, almost childish. So it was part of their duty, as friends of Alice, to take care of her. She had helped them so much in the past, and she still did now, they had to pay their debts one way or another, even when the red-head insisted she didn't need that special treatment towards her; she was strong, despite the appearances. No one in high school would dare harm Alice. Practically all the boys were in love with her, and the girls, despite their jealousy, left her alone. Alice was too sweet for her own good.

When she was done, they leaned against the lockers. A few boys passed by, wolf-whistling when they saw Julie in her tight-fitting cheerleader uniform, winking and greeting Alice and winked back, Alice said hi and Mira just smiled at them. That was part of a ritual too, in its own way: the ritual of popularity.

Once the guys were out of sight, Julie sighed. "Boys...all the same. Tell me, Alice, what's more disgusting: taking that medicine, or watching them boys wolf-whistling and undress us with those eyes?"

Alice giggled lightly. Count on Julie to loosen the tension. "Oh, the medicine, definitely. I wouldn't think you'd find their behaviour disgusting, Julie, not you. You'd be used to it by now, right?"

Julie raised her shoulders in an indifferent shrug. "Oh sure, it's nice to know that boys notice you and everything, but you know...I got Billy. He does everything better than anyone else". She had that dreamy tone and facial expression she often had these days, when she thought of Billy. Alice and Mira envied her and were a bit jealous of it. Billy was a great guy, and pretty much a gentleman around Julie, although most of the time they were seen together making out like crazy. Mira wished for a relationship like that, one where she and her boyfriend wouldn't have to hide from the world to show their happiness. Alice didn't really care about relationship, but she wanted one like that too, and stil waited for the prince in her fairy tale to show up.

"Speaking of the devil" Mira whispered in her ear, breaking into her daydream. She followed her eyes and saw Billy waving at them. The girls waved back, but they doubted he noticed them. Julie was already next to him - or rather, on him - , nearly strangling him with her arms wrapped around his neck. They watched as the two lovebirds walked away, holding hands.

Mira chuckled. "Now, she was fast, wasn't she? I barely saw her moving!"

Alice was laughing too. "Oh well, you know what they say: love gives you wings."

"Mmmm." The two red-heads still had their eyes fixed on the spot where Billy and Julie were moments ago. Suddenly Mira sensed some movement on her left, from the other side. She glanced at it, only to snort and glare at what she saw.

Alice noticed the change of mood in the air, along with Mira's dark grimace. "Is something wrong, Mira?"

She turned, arms crossed over her chest, facing Alice with a serious face. "Hey, remember what Julie told you about disgusting things?"

She slowly nodded, unsure of what her friend was getting into.

In a swift movement of the head, she indicated the place she was looking at before. "Well, you know what else is every bit as disgusting as pills and lecherous boys? Those two."

"What do you -"

She glanced behind Mira's shoulder in time to see what her friend was talking about.

Leaning against the lockers like them, was Shun Kazami, watching as Fabia Sheen put the moves on him. It was obvious, from the way she stood in front of him, her body almost stuck to his, her hand on his shoulder and telling him God knows what. And boy, he didn't seem to mind. At all. In fact, he looked more...curious. And probably interested.

Alice didn't really know what to think. It usually bothered her to watch couples being, well, couples; doing things people would do on a date, flirt, hug, talk, kiss. She didn't like to stay there and watch, it always looked like invasion of privacy to her; plus it sometimes made her nauseous to see couples in their most intimate moments, for it tended to lead into graphic demonstrations of affection.

Watching one of your friends was another whole thing. There was some jealousy concerning the two people's closeness, happiness at seeing one of your best friends happy and having the time of her life...with your crush.

Sure, Fabia Sheen was a good friend of hers; once a new girl whom she'd helped for orientation, turned out to be an old friend of Shun's, and started dating him last year. She was someone great, but she didn't get why people gave her a bitch reputation. Sure, she did look out to battles and trouble, was hot-tempered and she had definitely angered the fan girls...and half of Bayview's female staff. But then, Shun had that effect on almost everyone. Classical golden boy, with the brains, the well-proportioned body that went with it, and that coldness of his which didn't stop the fan girls from worshipping him. His silence and coldness had quite a sexy edge, though...

Alice wanted to slap herself. Hard. Why in the world would she ever think something so stupid? Stop it girl, he's not your crush or anything remotely close to it. He's just your friend, your god damned friend who happens to have the greatest -

Brain, please shut it!

It took her a moment to realize that Mira was still waiting for her opinion. Upon staring in her steel blue eyes, she was glad to see she had remained composed in front of her.

She stood straight, brushing a hand through her red curls, looking everywhere but at Mira or the couple a few meters away. "Well?"

Mira looked like she'd grown two heads. "Erm, Earth to Alice, woohoo, are you still here, Alice? Friendly reminder that we're talking about Fabia Sheen, Bayview Bitch - "

"Hey! She's not a -"

"Also known as that-slut-who-thinks-she-is-better-than-everyone-e lse -"

"Mira! She's not a slut and you -"

"And also that-girl-who-stole-my-best-friend's-boyfriend!"

"He's not my boyfriend!"

"Says the girl who spent most of the first year's English classes AND PE classes staring at him."

"I was not -"

"Okay, fine, fine, if you say so. I must have mistaken him for someone else. Still, you don't usually do that when Klaus is around, do you?"

Their argument had been quite heated, and it was surprising no one had noticed their exchange. It stopped short at the mention of Klaus's name, causing Alice's cheeks to flush a light pink. She started to say something, but Mira cut her.

"Come on, we both know he's your boyfriend, but we both know you don't feel that way towards him".

Alice scowled at Mira, her cheeks' colour slightly paler. "How would you know? What if I like him? He's my boyfriend, after all." She started to walk away, yet Mira was still on her tail.

"Well, maybe you do like him, but you don't love him. There's a thin line between the two, and you can deny it all you want, it's the truth."

She stopped, her friend imitating the gesture. Mira was right. She didn't love Klaus. She liked him - in her own and funny way - , but still she liked him. Klaus Von Hertzon was quite a guy, the kind you meet once in a lifetime. He was German, for one - foreigners like him or Alice weren't too common here - , and he was rich, a detail he'd emphase whenever he felt like it...which was about always. But he had been educated in an old fashion way. He was a gentleman, from a true generation of gentlemen, and he'd do anything for her; or so she thought. So far he'd followed her everywhere, like a puppy. No one actually blamed or mocked him for that; any guy with a mind wouldn't mind becoming Alice's slave, or so she was told. And he was her boyfriend, too. There was no denying that fact.

Alice turned towards Mira, only showing her part of her face. "Maybe...maybe you're right. But he's still my boyfriend, until someone decides against it."

Mira gave her a sympathetic look. She didn't like them, being so used to getting them. From doctors, nurses, her grandfather...and her girlfriends. From the last ones she didn't mind so much, she felt too much affection towards them to ever be mad at any of the girls. She wasn't getting away from all these things so easily, then.

The corners of Alice's mouth turned in a smile that wanted to be reassuring. "C'mon," she said, taking Mira's hand, "I have to go to the infirmary. Join me?"

Mira nodded, trying to grin back at her best friend. Before walking to the infirmary, she caught a glimpse of the two love birds on the opposite side.

* * *

"You know, you're gonna have to do something about the two of us, sweetheart."

Shun only half listened, not caring much about what Fabia was telling him. It was already hard to think with her being so close to him. Her body was practically glued to his, her hands on his shoulders. Her perfume was also quite distracting: a heavy and flowery concoction he couldn't stand. But he wouldn't tell her that, at least not in public with others listening. The perfume made him dizzy, the beginning of a headache pounding inside his skull.

That was when it happened, all of a sudden. He completely forgot about the perfume. He forgot all about her body pressed close to his, her nails digging in his shoulders through his t-shirt, and her sultry voice purring in his ear. The world stopped and stood still, and so did his heart.

She was there.

She stood on the opposite side, leaning against the lockers, sipping some water. Light blue veins stood out on her neck, and he felt the desire to reach out and touch them.

She'd worn one of those outfits he loved on her - although he liked everything on her: a frilly knee-length white dress, dancing gracefully with the morning breeze. She'd put a denim blazer other the dress, and worn cowboy girl boots, with large heels. Despite the heels' height, she still wouldn't be as tall as him, he thought. Thinking of it traced a ghostly smile on his lips. Fabia herself had a hard time trying to get something like that from him.

She'd finished drinking, her bottle now only half full. Either she was thirsty, or she had to swallow something that didn't pass well. Maybe he could propose to buy her a new bottle later...

She closed the bottle, put it back in her bag and leaned more comfortably against the lockers. Her chest heaved up and down from breathing, and he found himself holding his breath. They was no denying: she was truly and utterly breath-taking. Breathtakingly beautiful.

"I don't believe anyone told you that staring was impolite, even with a lovey dovey look." Fabia's voice snapped him back to reality. Her once love struck face was gone, replaced by a more serious expression, yet with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. He recalled what she just said, frowned.

"Lovey dovey? Really, where did you get that from, huh? And for your information, I was not - "

"Staring at Alice up and down? Let me think..." She turned around him, seemingly in deep thought. "Hum, mmm, wait, eh...ah, I got it! Yes you were, don't lie to me, ninja boy!"

He rolled his eyes. He hated it when she called him by her nickname. "Ninja boy" was only one of the numerous names she had for him, like Shunnypoo and Honey and other nonsense like that. Still, he preferred it to anything else she called him. The frown still plastered on his face, he turned to her.

"Can't hide anything from you, I see."

"Of course. I'm your girlfriend, after all, I ought to know every single dirty little secret you possess..." the gleam in her eyes was more serious now, "or am I?"

"Are you what?"

"Oh you, stop it!" she said quickly in a sweet voice, seeing students coming in their direction. They sweat-dropped a bit then went back to walking, not before they spared a glare at Fabia, which she royally ignored. Fangirls, all the same. She gazed back at Shun. "Your girlfriend, Shun. I'm a fake, and so are you. People might talk."

He raised an eyebrow. "Like who?"

"Oh, well, Dan and Billy and Marucho. Yes, even Marucho knows. Dan might easily let it slip during a drunk party, Billy could tell Julie, and Marucho...I don't know what he'd do." She leaned against the lockers by his side. "We won't be able to hide this longer, you realize this. You can't keep your fan girls away… nor can you can't keep her away, too."

Fabia glanced at the girls on the opposite way. Shun copied her. Julie, Mira and Alice hadn't moved, and greeted guys passing by. When he saw Alice smiling at them and saying a quick hi, he felt a surge of jealousy deep inside. Now you're really turning into a fan boy, man, he thought. But he didn't mind, not as much as he should. They watched Mira and Alice walking away, Shun was too distracted to hear Fabia sigh, or to feel her grabbing his hand.

"Let's go, lover boy, we got classes."

He didn't complain and followed her, still deep in thought. Wasn't Alice paler than usual today?

* * *

What was the link between demands and offers again?

Ah yes, she remembered it now. She rapidly copied the answer on her test paper.

Runo finished the first exercise without much difficulty. She was glad her memory was working back on normal mode, unlike this morning. Thankfully, she hadn't been distracted so far. It helped not to have Dan next to her, unlike the others times. Inside, she blessed Mrs Suzuki for making Dan move at the back of the classroom. She glanced sideways as discreetly as possible. Mrs Suzuki was walking here and there, glancing at other students' papers. Dan, she remarked, seemed to have some trouble with his work. She smiled at this, God knew why. Suddenly, he lifted up his head from the exercises, and noticed Runo looking at him. He instantly smiled, winked at her. Runo abruptly turned her head, bowing it down to her work. Her cheeks were already heating up.

What is happening to me?

Keep calm, Runo, he did it for fun, that's it. He does it with everyone, anyway. She went back to the test, attempting to throw her mind back in the questions.

She had already finished the first and third exercises, basics of the lesson and composition. Now she only had one question left in the second exercise, the one she dreaded the most: stats graph.

She'd always hated stats and graphs, and always failed to get them right. At least she had the other points compensating for her losses. She hadn't revised this part of the lesson, and she hadn't needed to. She had a solution all prepared and set up.

Phase 1 of her plan was starting. Runo discreetly glanced at the class, making sure Mrs Suzuki was out of sight. Luckily, she was at the back reading a paperback novel which seemed to have all her concentration focused. In fact, Runo noticed a bunch of students murmuring quietly, some making a few signs at others. Good. All was well.

Phase 2 is on, now. She had brought a jacket with her today, an oversized thing which covered her like a mini dress. It was long enough to cover her shorts. She leaned over her table, making it look like she was in deep concentration. Her forehead was half pressed against the hard wood, and her eyes followed the trail her fingers traced on her leg. Slowly, gently, she lifted up the front of the shorts' right leg. Right under the fabric were pink scribbles, done in a shade so pale the ink looked translucent against the pale skin.

This morning, she had copied down the graphics from her papers while waiting for the bell, in her car. She didn't know why she had done that in the first place. It might have been frustration at being unable to memorize all the economic laws and stats.

She glanced at the rest of the classroom again. People were still cheating, and Mrs Suzuki was still oblivious to what was happening in her class. Maybe an angel is with me today, she thought, grinning.

Leaning against the wood border again, she hurriedly copied down the graphics, replacing numbers and titles, writing additional details and comments. Piece of cake.

"I thought better of you, Master Runo."

The small quiet voice made her shiver, and her surprise was such she almost jumped off her chair. But it was only Tigrerra, creeping from under her shorts pocket. The tiny tiger stared up at its protector, her blue-green eyes orbs frowned.

"Damn, Tigrerra, you scared me!" Runo replied in a ushered voice. She hoped she hadn't been too loud; she looked up at the class, the atmosphere unchanging. She quickly straightened her shorts, the scribbles hidden again. I'll have to watch this when I get to the toilet, she decided. The plan completed, she turned back her sheet. The test was over.

Runo sighed, content of her success. She leaned her elbows on the table, in a nap position. Instead of resting, she turned to Tigrerra, the bakugan still watching her intensely.

"Look Tigrerra, I know this isn't the best thing I've done in my life," she started, taking in her best puppy voice while trying to keep it down, "but you know I had no choice! This is the only way I can get a good mark."

"Sure, but did you ever hear or revising?"

"But I did!" She said in a quite too loud murmur. Her teacher noticed this, and thankfully yelled at two classmates behind her. Runo made sure she had calmed down, before continuing. "But I did, but you know I can't remember stats well! And it's just for one time, I won't do it again, I promise."

The bakugan stared at her with its hypnotic eyes, clearly not believing any word she was uttering.

"If memory serves me well, you swore it to me the other time. And the time before that, and another time way before..."

If looks could kill, Tigrerra would have her down in a second. Her gaze wasn't too hard, but it wasn't too gentle either. Like a mother's eyes seeing through her. Even Mrs Misaki wasn't like that; sure, she understood her daughter and did her best to help, but she didn't know as much as Tigrerra. She sighed.

Runo was about to add something, when the bell rang. With almost inhuman speed, she packed her things and hurried out of the class.

Today, she decided, today is the last day I'll cheat. This promise, she intended to keep.

According to her, no one noticed her behaviour in class today. No one ever noticed anything.

Except for the brunette who'd watched her during the whole test.

* * *

"Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Staring. At his ass. I understand you find it a fascinating activity, definitely more interesting than any English class on Earth. But really, stop."

Alice was no fool. Since the beginning of the year she had witnessed everything happening around her. The "everything" implied Mira, staring at their English teacher's replacement from the beginning of their sophomore year.

She turned to her classmate, giving her a playful grin. "Oh, and please tell me why I should stop, dear Alice?"

Alice rolled her eyes, yet Mira saw the corners of her mouth lift up in an equal smile. "You'll only encourage him if he notices. And besides, isn't it bad for a not-single girl to drool on her teacher?"

"Oh well, probably, but it's still better than to dream of another guy, even when your boyfriend isn't there."

Alice took it well, discreetly lifting up her palms to show that she surrendered. A light blush coloured her cheeks, still, and she tried to hide it. Mira noticed it.

"Don't do that. He thinks it's cute when you blush, and he's not alone on that."

"Sure, sure..."

Alice lowered her head in embarrassment, yet she knew it was true. The male population was watching her, if not Mira. Shun sat at the back, his head bowed down on his work, but Mira could tell he kept an eye on her friend. Marucho, sitting next to him, was doing the same thing, only being more obvious. It was the same thing going on amongst the female population, only they drooled at Shun...or their teacher.

On this point, Mira couldn't help but agree. Their teacher's replacement was what Julie would call a babe. Alice simply said she was handsome. For her part, Mira found him hot. And hot didn't even begin to describe him.

His light peppermint hair was spiky, and it went well with his tanned skin. She couldn't see much of it, with him giving her his back, but she saw plenty enough of it. His black shirt showed his muscular arms and the clothes emphasised a great deal of his athletic body. Like his jeans, grey and pretty tight. And God, look at that piece of -

"Mira? Already done with your work?"

It took her a moment to realize he was addressing her, everyone in the class staring at her. Except maybe for Shun and Alice, who did her best not to look at her. He had those cold, silver eyes fixed on her, his mouth pressed in a thin line. Why so serious, darling? You looked better last time I saw you.

She twirled a strand of hair between her finger, replying in a calm voice, adding in an almost arrogant tone: "Yes, sir. Want to check it?"

Mira stared at him fully, taking him in completely with the power of her ice-blue eyes. She was challenging him, she knew it, and she liked it. It was always a game between the two of them, betting on who would win in this staring competition.

And she was definitely winning.

He broke the connection, simply shrugging and turning back to the black board. The other students turned back to their works, still unsure of what just happened.

"You're impossible, you know that?" Alice whispered. She was still leaning on her book, but glanced at her sideways.

Mira flashed her a smile."Impossible is a euphemism. And I can tell you, this is not over."

The bell rang the moment she ended her phrase. Others automatically jumped out of their seats, packing in a rush and running out of the class. Mira did the same, only taking more time. She understood them; there was nothing more exhausting than staying at school until 5 PM, even with someone as distracting as her English teacher. Alice stretched beside her, yawning at her stiff muscles. She didn't see Shun watching her before getting out. Mira raised an eyebrow at his attitude; why didn't he confess to Alice already? It's not like he was afraid of Klaus or anything, so what kept him from doing it, except for Fabia?

She shrugged, turning to Alice. "Ready?"

"Yeah, let's go."

As they were about to get out, a voice called from behind. "Mira, may I talk to you for a minute, please?"

Said girl stopped on her track. Alice gave her a knowing look and smiled. "I'll tell Runo to wait for you". Before turning in the hall, she added, in a lower voice: "Don't bite him; he's too young to die." She winked, and then departed from the classroom.

The proposition was rather...appealing, Mira admitted. Oh, don't worry Alice, she thought, I'm not going to bite him.

She did a quick pirouette on herself, turning to face her teacher.

I'm going to eat him.

He'd finished cleaning the words and stuffing his books in his bag. His fingers, she remarked, were dusty from the chalk, and he wiped them on the front of his pants. White clouds drew themselves on the grey sky the colour formed. He suddenly cleared his throat. The sound forced her to snap up her head, and connect her gaze directly with his silver one. His body seemed to straighten, his muscles to flex. He was trying to look impressive, Mira thought, to stay in character. He's good at it, how bad I'm here to spoil his fun. His voice came out a tad raspier than usual, and she had to admit, it was really attractive.

"You do realize that you won't go anywhere with that attitude, Miss Clay?" he asked her. Now he was putting on the whole play, being all strict and full of authority. The whole teacher act was kind of nice, only she preferred the real man he actually was.

"Well," she said, on a matching tone, "you're probably right, Mr Grit. But then," she added, moving closer to him, "neither are you." She went forward, now dangerously close, so close to him she could see a change in his body, like something shifting inside.

His breath caught itself in his chest. He could hardly resist it when she was like that, all in seductive mode. It was only one of the parts of her she'd shown him the most, during school time. The other sides of her she'd revealed so far were appealing, but her flirty manners were practically arousing. He knew he wouldn't resist any longer; they both knew it.

"Mira..." he started, looking behind both her and him to make sure no one was watching, "we can't -"

"Ssh." She shut him, placing a finger on his lips. They leaned against one of the front tables, her hands firmly planted on his shoulders. She moved forward, so close he felt her hot breath on his mouth.

"Now, tell me: am I right, or am I not?" she said, her mouth moving to his ear. He felt his cheek heat up from her light touch. She leaned near his ear, now whispering so only he could hear. "So, tell me: am I right or not, Ace?"

Ace didn't give her a chance to continue her torture. In a matter of seconds his lips brushed hers. The kiss was gentle, and he felt Mira respond eagerly. It was like the world had stopped, like it was only the two of them.

The attraction had been mutual, since the first day he taught for her class. He couldn't tell what attracted him to her, in the first place. It wasn't just the fact that she was beautiful; Mira was an intelligent girl - scratch that, she was a woman from head to toe - , fun and rebellious. She didn't care about what the others thought of her, she just lived. And he liked that. A lot.

The kiss was soon more passionate. This was the kind of relationship she could never have, at least not with someone like Baron. The kid was nice, but he was like that: a kid. And he liked her, true, but she couldn't share his feelings. They had little in common. And he had a secret too big for her to handle with him. What she did to him would be considered as cruel, by others. Her friends saw it as it really was: help. By detaching herself from Baron, she was helping him becoming more mature, she was forcing him to grow up.

After some time, they broke the kiss. The connection was nice while it lasted, and she missed it already. Mira could tell Ace shared her feelings. She fell in his arms, hugging him. It felt great, to have his warm arms circling her, like a protecting armour. She put her head on his shoulder, while he nuzzled her neck with light butterfly kisses. She melted from his touch, softly travelling to heaven for a moment.

She glanced at the clock pinned at the top of the blackboard. 5:05 PM. Runo and the rest of the group would all be waiting by now. She sighed, pushing herself away from Ace.

"Sorry, got to go. See you tomorrow?" She said, looking up in his silver eyes.

He smiled, pecked her a last time on the lips. "Can't wait, Miss Clay."

She smiled back, grabbed her bag and rushed in the hall. The smile was still on her face. Oh happy day, she thought.

Runo was, indeed, waiting for her next to the car. Alice was at the back, ordering her things, and Julie...was making out quite aggressively miles away next to his car.

"Took your time, Clay," Runo told her when she proceeded to pack, yet winked like Alice had earlier. She looked exhausted, and somehow distressed. Surely Alice had noticed, to, they'd most probably talk about it back home. The girls climbed inside the car, Runo honked at Julie in impatience. "C'mon, Jul, I don't have all day!"

Julie quickly pecked Billy one last time, and got into the car at the back, next to Mira.

The car got out of the parking lot, driving back to the Misaki's.

* * *

Everyone had his or her own perception of heaven. For Julie, heaven was a place with infinite shops and never-ending shopping. Shopping was her passion, when it wasn't being Billy. The stores always seemed to attract her, to tell her in a seductive way to come over and take a peek at what they had in for her. And she always gave in.

That was a reason why she loved – or rather worshipped – the Bayview Shopping Mall. Wardington all by itself was a huge boutique waiting for her to make her choice, but the Bayview Mall was the living definition of fashion at its finest. She'd insisted on passing by today, to check if there were sales or anything close to it for her to see. Runo hadn't really wanted to, yet she'd finally given up. Now, she along with Mira and Alice sat in the cafeteria, sipping milkshakes before heading to work at the Misaki Café. Now it was just Julie and the shops.

Runo had told her to hurry, for she'd most probably have a lot of work tonight, so she only quickly did a debriefing of every clothes store, not seeing anything worth her interest. Then she spotted a new, cute little shop, and got in.

There was everything to please any shopaholic on Earth: seemingly endless clothing departments, numerous shelves for accessories, lots of makeup. There was a good number of clients inside, and the assistants ran here and there to try to help almost everyone. No one noticed her entering the place. Good. Not wanting to make her friends wait too long, she grabbed a bunch of tops which matched her taste, and headed to a cabin. Once inside, she locked it well, and checked in all directions to see if there were any cameras in the corners. No camera in sight. She tried on the tops, found that two of them out of the four she'd picked suited her. Satisfied by her discoveries, she stuffed them in her bag, got out. No one had bothered to approach her, so she put the remaining tops back where she found them. With a smile, she departed from the store and went to see her friends at the cafeteria.

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It was rather crowded at the Misaki Café, for a Monday night. Since Alice and Runo were full-time waitresses at the café, they took charge of all the clients. Mira and Julie did propose to help, but the girls insisted on doing their work alone. "I want my tips, you see," Runo had added to joke. For the rest of the evening, Mira and Julie sat at a table and did their homework, doing part of the girls' to help in their own way.

Working was easier by night, in a way. Of course, there were many clients to serve, and many things to do at the same time, but unlike servicing during daytime, they didn't have fan boys to bother them in their work. Or any other kind of distraction.

No wait. There was a distraction in their rear-view. But not the best of distractions.

A middle-aged man sat a couple of tables away from the girls. He'd entered the restaurant about half an hour ago already, well dressed in an expensive-looking brown suit. Runo had failed to notice, being so occupied with all the other clients. They could tell he was starting to grow impatient, and even when Alice went to him to take care of him, he still had on a strict, intimidating expression. Alice's sweet face clearly was not helping her to calm him down. When she passed by their able to fetch the man a drink, the red-head told them that this guy was giving her the creeps. From her face, you could tell it was serious. It took a lot to scare Alice.

It was almost 10 PM now, and the café had been deserted long ago - except for that man, who'd only started to eat. He'd commanded a steak and chips, and was taking his time to eat. He didn't look particularly satisfied by his food. It angered Runo, for her mother was the greatest cook she knew, and the steak was the house's speciality. But she chose not to complain out loud, and instead sat along with her friends. They ate in silence, listening to the client's complains and moans. It was hard to resist the temptation, to drag him out of the café and to tell him to never come back. Plus, it would be time to close, soon. Still, he didn't seem to mind much. They had "kept him waiting", as she quoted from him, "and now it was only normal that he kept them waiting". It wasn't just his total lack of manners and politeness. It was also the comments he made while eating. He spoke to himself in a voice he kept low, but the wine he'd been served made his voice hoarse and loud enough to hear. Nasty comments, on how fat the head cook was, on how clumsy and stupid the waitresses were, how bad the food tasted - comments which drove Runo mad as hell, and her friends had to get a hold of her to keep her from making a mistake. They only hoped the Misakis hadn't heard anything of what he said. Runo got a text message from her father, telling her that they'd gone out to buy additional food for the next day, and asking her to close the café after the last client left.

At some point, he did manage to finish his plate - alleluia! - and Runo went to clean up his table. She'd already piled up the fork and knife and handkerchief on his plate, when he told her: "You know what? Keep it all. I'm not paying for something that bad!" At this point, Runo had exceeded her level of tolerance towards the jerk.

Before she and the others realized it, she took the knife from the plate and stabbed it in his chest.

* * *

**A/N: I must say: wow. Just, wow. I don't think I've ever written that much in anything. Guess I was inspired. People are right when they say fan fiction writing stimulates imagination and inspiration. I'm rather proud of myself for writing this much, but that ending other there could have been better, I admit, along with Julie's part.**

**So… opinions?**


	4. Blood On My Hands

**A/N: First of all, I'd like to thank all of the reviewers for their kind words and encouragement. Without you, both this story and I wouldn't be anywhere.**

**Cup of Violet Tea: Alice is the smartest girl, I think, and Marucho and Shun the smartest boys. Both she and Mira have their issues, yup. And… it's not Julie's medicine; it's Alice's. Plus Fabia and Shun have sort of a I'm-using-you relationship. They don't like each other like a couple, more like in a brother and sister way. And... who said Runo really stabbed him... to death? I'm full of secrets myself ;) It adds a more mysterious edge to the story, I think, giving the girls more than only one secret. Because well, you see the summary; you can't possibly get killed for cheating on a test or being sick! That would be kind of rude. I can't wait for a Shun/Klaus confrontation either; I'm just waiting for the good occasion, to be honest. Forbidden desire makes everything sound so much soapy and dramatic...**

**InnocentDiamond: Ah, that's the cheerleader cliché, what do you want more? I don't know, I'm not the hugest fan of cheerleaders ever; whenever I watch a show with cheerleaders in it, there are always snobby and hateable - ALWAYS. But I swear, I will never ever make Julie snobby or horrible like that. I don't drive, I just have an idea for the continuation of the story; black '69 Chevy Impala is possibly the only car I know sort of well, considering how much I love the TV show Supernatural. I don't really have a clue about the curriculum and education in schools; I'm from a French school so I don't really know how it works in other schools. I figured Runo would be a good student, being a B-straight. Most of the girls have this average mark, except for Alice - when you're in the scientific class and have a scientist for a grandfather, you got to have the top grades. And I'm wouldn't mind failing a test, as long as it's a science/physics/PE test. Those are the only subjects where I'm sure I won't get even the average class mark. Kill a snobby girl? Only for a good reason. If I didn't, I'd have everyone murdered at this rate! Volleyball and badminton? I suck in volleyball, but I'm okay enough in badminton. I signed up for it for my first semester, along with swimming and archery (heck, I can't even swim and don't know how to use a bow!)...*sigh* still, I highly prefer it to gymnastics and running. What's wrong with Fabia? I mean, I'm not her hugest fan, but I'm no hater - even though I believe that Shun and Alice would already be together if it hadn't been with her sticking to him. And... what do you mean, what is she wearing? The outfit I described was Alice's... damn, what is Fabia actually wearing though? I don't know, her Gundalia outfit probably. But I agree, her attitude is disgusting; it's an act, sure, but it's still disgusting. Oh and...yes. Sexy edge all the way, I mean come on, it's Shun! The cheating is definitely sneaky, not exactly original but sneaky. And, like I said to Cup Of Violet Tea, who says it was a crime? ;) I like to play with that fic, I guess.**

**Maiden Warrior: Oh stop it, you, you'll make me blush ^^ Special shout-out to you for being an awesome human being! Hot, steamy, sexy relationship between teacher and student is the shit, I along with others dig that thing. I hope Kirby gets better btw...Love problems? You bet! I watch way too much soap with my mom, and read way too much Harlequin. Oh well, thanks a lot again, and I'll try to keep the awesome up some more :)**

**theHuntress101: Yes yes and yes again. You must have skipped Julie's part, because I uploaded it along with the rest. Could have been better written though...Thanks for reviewing also!**

**Guest reviewer: Hum, yeah? ... I don't really get your review, anon, is it a question or an observation? In both cases, yes, Runo killed. I think... Thanks for reviewing!**

**S. S. R: 1st review: Yes, Alice is pretty dark in that, her secrets give her quite a lot of responsibility. And about the secrets, I agree that they are hard to decide, I had trouble myself finding the right combination. Just ... Julie and Billy...going hot and stuff... definitely enough said X)**

** 2nd review: Voting is over, but you can still tell me which secrets you like! It might come in handy for later uses. And Runo only killed one person: that dude from the café...or did she? He he I'm so bad. Well, there is nothing alien in the story, really. No fantasy in that story, sorry if it disappoints you :/ Shun and Fabia? I can't wait to break them; I just can't stand to see Shun with anyone other than Alice.**

**The other day, a few hours before uploading the previous chapter, I just happened to see a Bakugan Battle Brawlers t-shirt in a shop's displaying window. Twice. It looked nice, a male t-shirt, but still nice, it only had the logo on it. Thought of you all when I saw it :) Writing that previous chapter was easily the most hard core thing I've ever done in my whole life, I can tell. But then, I would like all chapters to be that long. Now that the girls have their secrets, it's time for the action to intensify!**

**I remarked that the story was updated every 4 days, so I might as well try to respect that delay. It's going to be hard though: I have that huge test in two weeks that I have to revise for (seriously, who the fuck decided exams were legit during the holidays?). I should have started revising for it way long ago, but hell, who cares? Chances are I won't even get between fifty and seventy-five percent of the thing. If you're wondering what it's all about, it's a French exam, where you compose for four hours, get a one-hour break and then answer questions for three hours. And I have to wake up early. Holy Mother of God...**

**Small comment: I realized that you guys are a bit confused about the story. Here's a summary - if you skipped the previous chapter, please get back there, I don't want to spoil your fun:**

**1) Runo hates Jenny, Bayview's queen bee. With a passion. She did NOT kill her. Yet.**

**2) Alice is sick. NOT JULIE OR MIRA. And she does NOT love Klaus.**

**3) Shun is USING Fabia, so to get away from the fan girls AND to try to make Alice jealous. It's pretty selfish, I admit. But it works.**

**4) Runo cheated on a test.**

**5) Mira's relationship with Baron is complicated - heck, it's not even a relationship. She had a forbidden relationship with English teacher Ace Grit.**

**6) Julie suffers of kleptomania. And yes, I DID upload her part along with the others.**

**7) Runo stabbed a man...or did she?**

**Anyway, let's go through something more interesting: Secrets Can Kill chapter 3 (or 4, whatever you prefer)! See you lot at the end!**

**Previously on Secrets Can Kill:**

**At this point, Runo had exceeded her level of tolerance towards the jerk.**

**Before she and the others realized it, she took the knife from the plate and stabbed it in his chest.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bakugan Battle Brawlers, as you all know. I only own the fanfic.**

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Chapter 3: Blood On My Hands

Like many people, Runo Misaki had often wondered what was so appealing about murders that made murderers this stimulated to kill. In her book, "murder" was only killing a person unlawfully; it was taking an innocent human's life by sending him in the other side. It wasn't long before she'd learned that all men weren't innocent, and all men had a corrupted side.

Many times she had felt this desire, an overwhelming desire to shut them up and get them back in their own places, where they originally belonged. She had met many people like that, jerks and machos most of the time, men who thought they ruled the world. The other gender wasn't any better. Women, she'd come to realize, were every bit as cruel as men; possibly more cruel and inhuman, in numerous ways.

Like all the others sophomores at Bayview High, she had philosophy as one of her main subjects. The infinite, endless lectures of her teachers never really explained what there was about the human nature which made them that way, at least not directly. This and they had never approached the subject that was murder. All she could remember from her classes was this: Man is a wolf to Man.

And this man, seating comfortably booths away from her table, was a wolf. Not to himself, but to the others. She could tell from the moment he had entered the café, with his face harbouring a stoic expression, his eyes icy and sending chills down her spine. Bad chills.

Runo had let Alice take care of him, partly out of cowardice, partly because she wanted to help a busy Runo. And she had let her reach the monster. She'd watched as her friend tried to put him at ease and calm him down, yet surprisingly she had little success. Alice hardly ever failed in that area. He hadn't even laid eyes on the pretty red-head. She'd given him a drink and gone to the kitchen, not before sneaking past Runo and whispering in her ear. "He scares the hell out of me", she'd told her. She'd believed her instantly. It took a lot to scare Alice that way.

She sneaked into the kitchen, rapidly whispering a word or two to her mother on the mystery client. Out of curiosity, Mrs Misaki discreetly sneaked out to take a look at him, only to come back with a frightened expression on her face. Seeing the concern on Runo's face, the look faded as fast as it once appeared, replaced by a gentle smile to her daughter. She went back to her work, not before letting his identity slip. It turned out Alice's customer was a renowned critic in gastronomy. Somehow, it didn't soothe Runo in any way. The Misakis had received many critics in their café before him, and none had been this severe until now. Most of the time, they were patient, considering the amount of clients they had every day, and all of them departed from the building satisfied. That was then, this is now, Runo, she thought while getting dishes to the customers. Though she repeated it to herself during the whole servicing, the acid still burnt at the back of her throat. She let the news slip to Alice when she noticed her taking care of him, her friend gave her a nod. Alice would be more careful, but she didn't trust the man at all.

Time after time, the restaurant emptied itself. Runo's service being over, she went to sit next to Julie and Mira. Along with the girls, she finished her homework and Alice's; after all, she owed her for taking care of such a disagreeable client. She gave her a sideways glance when Alice got out of the kitchen, carrying steak and chips. The man had grumbled something about the waitress' clumsiness and the food's appearance, yet she chose to ignore it. Mira and Julie winced at the harsh comment, and Alice gave her a look after setting down his plate, joining them to the table. She told Runo that her parents had gone out to buy some food for the next day, and wouldn't be back for a few hours. It made Runo groan a bit, seeing her parents leaving her and the others stuck with that monster, yet she understood their behaviour and excused them for it. Gordon Ramsay himself would be scared of the man. God knew if he wasn't the Devil in person.

The girls decided to ignore him, as they got down to their work and munched on sandwiches. It was a small and simple dinner, but the critic made them lose their appetite any way. Not only was he capable of this; he took his time, Runo noticed, and he only thought it fair to keep them waiting. Even the bakugan found it unfair, they declared while nibbling on bread crumbs.

After what seemed like decades, he told them that he was done. At this point, Runo wanted to kill him with a burning desire. Still, she restrained herself for a confrontation with him. She made her decision known by gesturing to Alice. The red-head, along with the two others, gave her a worried and scared look, which the blunette brushed off with a smirk. If there was something Runo Misaki was good at, it was definitely getting people to go back home tail between the legs.

Runo kept the smirk plastered on her face as she went to him. If he saw her expression, he didn't show it. She quickly cleaned the table, putting knife and fork on his plate, covering them with his very own handkerchief - it was repulsive, to look at the stains he'd left, but she didn't complain. She could have done so, though, considering how drunk he was; he'd been served the house's best refined red wine, and had proceeded to empty the bottle. It had been his mistake; getting drunk never got you far, except when your middle name was "trouble". He was on the verge of collapsing, fainting probably, his face fifty shades of red. The obvious tiredness shown on his face didn't keep him from talking. Runo had her hands on the dish, ready to flee to the kitchen, when he muttered: "You know what? Keep it all. I'm not paying for something that bad!" The voice came out dry and low, yet it was audible enough to the blue-haired waitress and her friends.

That was when it happened. Something broke inside of Runo. He'd hit a nerve, the bastard. With his harsh and hard comments, he'd managed to destroy the little tolerance and patience she'd felt toward him.

In the moment she acted out of instinct.

The plate was still on her hand, waiting to be washed. Hatred blinded her, and the rest of the world vanished.

The others watched as she gripped the knife's handle, and pushed it abruptly in the man's chest.

Runo held her breath during the whole stabbing. He gasped out loud, both out of surprise and pain, and slowly brought his hands to his chest. His face was contorted by a grimace, melting the hard mask he'd worn all this time in the café.

Runo watched as the blood came out of the wound, the knife still in place. A red flower blossomed on his expensive blouse; the blood stained his fingers and expensive suit.

For the first time of the day, Runo was truly satisfied by herself. Satisfied at how the act seemed to soothe her, at how good it felt to get rid of him.

It took her a moment to realize that Julie was screaming.

When the sound reached her ears, she suddenly turned her head toward the group, recalling how everyone had gasped when she'd been in her euphoric" state. Julie had her hands on her mouth, a scream still escaping her lips, and Mira and Alice had their mouths wide open, eyes almost jumping out of their socket. The three of them had a horrified look on their face; the bakugan didn't show much, but their silence told millions.

The data had finally reached her brain, and she turned to watch the man she'd just stabbed. He moaned, hurt and pained, so low it seemed he hadn't registered any of what happened. Colour left Runo's cheeks, and the negative chills she'd felt earlier came back. Only they were a thousand times worse.

Oh God. What have I done?

"What you have done? I'LL TELL YOU WHAT YOU'VE DONE, YOU IDIOT! YOU JUST FUCKING STABBED A MAN, FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" A loud voice yelled in her ears. Normally yells made Runo angry. Right now they made her shiver. She hadn't realized that she'd spoken out loud, until Julie's voice echoed in the dead silence. She turned to her and to the others back again. Alice and Mira had somehow managed to calm down, yet they still breathed heavily, with a look of shock on their face. Julie, on her side, looked ready to faint. Her face had lost all colour, her knuckles whitening and her nails pressed so hard inside her fists that it could have drawn blood from her palms. Another time she would have yelled back at her friend. She was too shocked and taken aback by her act to do so. She understood Julie so well at this moment that it hurt. Wouldn't she feel the same, after all, if Julie herself had done it in front of her? In cold blood, and without the slightest hesitation?

Of course. Of course she would.

"I-I-erm, I mean..." she started to say. But hell, what was she supposed to say? What did she want to say? Hey, this guy was pissing me off, so I killed him? How subtle.

Alice's quiet voice stopped her from adding any nonsense to her stuttering. She spoke in a low, calm voice, so deadly calm Runo thought she was dreaming. "You missed the heart."

Hang on...wait, what?

She wanted to slap herself, to see if she wasn't really dreaming. Julie and Mira felt the same, too, it seemed. The three of them watched the red-head quizzically. Alice was watching the man intently, as if she was inspecting him, and turned to Runo.

"I said, you missed the heart. You hit a rib when you stabbed him, probably. We might have time to drive him to the hospital."

Was she serious? Drive him to the hospital, by night? When her parents could get back anytime, and see them gone?

Drive him to the hospital...when he had been such a jerk to them?

"Sure," Julie said in an almost hysteric voice, "and then? What are you going to tell them when you get there? Hi, I just stabbed the guy 'cause he was being an ass? And what do you mean, by WE? I don't have anything to do with this!"

One would have interpreted her words as cruel and selfish, unfriendly. Still, they all got the message. Julie was scared. To death. And so were Alice and Mira and Runo.

"I hate to admit this," Mira added, "but Julie's right. We can't just go there in the middle of the night; we don't have a legit alibi. But we can't leave him like that! I mean, look at him! He's practically dead now!" She pointed at him in distress. She was right. The stab and drunken combination made him seem living dead, his skin reminding Runo of a zombie's.

"Yes, but...we can't just leave him like that!" Alice said. At this point, she had some moisture in the corners of her eyes, and was on the verge of crying. The girls fell silent, unsure of what to add. The silence was deathening in the room. They had to make a decision, and quick, Runo thought. Possibilities were infinite, though.

There was one that tempted her, yet. One single possibility that could change the course of their lives. One single possibility that could get her in trouble.

"Alice," she whispered suddenly, breaking the silence, "are you sure that I missed the heart? Positive?"

Alice gave her a funny look which might have made her laugh hadn't the situation been so critical. She thought for a minute, and then nodded. "Yes, I'm positive. You didn't touch the heart. Only between it and the stomach. You probably hit a rib or a lung, though." She took her look at her watch. "Yeah. You did so about five minutes ago. Give him, say, twenty more minutes to go without care, and he'll - "She suddenly stopped. Realization hit her like a hard slap on her cheek. She gave Runo a look again, and the blunette nodded gravely. Her eyes widened.

"Runo, you don't possibly mean - "

She nodded again." Yes, Alice, I mean it. If you don't want to, then it's fine. I won't force you into anything against your will."

The red-head looked down, her cheeks several shades paler. She swallowed a bit, not quite getting it. Then she lifted her head again, muttering. Runo only got that she was okay with the idea.

Alice took her hand and held it tight, her knuckles white from their small pressure on her fingers. "You're not doing this. Not without me." She was grateful to hear it.

Meanwhile, Mira and Julie had stared at their interaction, confused by what they said. "Hum, girls", Julie said in a smaller voice than usual, "what do we do?"

Still holding Alice's hand, Runo turned to her two remaining friends. In a calm voice, she said:

"What do we do? We're going to kill him. For good."

It took longer to convince Mira and Julie - to be precise, it took longer to convince Julie. But in the end they gave up and accepted to help. There was no way Runo was getting into this alone. From now on, they were all in this together.

By the time they decided to get into action, the man was already in between life and death. His heart still beat though, Alice said after examining him closely. The bastard definitely didn't want to die, Runo, thought bitterly. The previous shock was gone, replaced by worry and, she admitted quite gloomily, a bit of excitement.

She removed the knife from the wound with a swift movement, the fast gesture made them want to vomit. Alice, however, took it rather calmly, and Runo gave her the knife. Fresh blood dripped from the blade, a few red drops fell on Alice's apron. She chose to ignore it, where all the others made a face. She was the scientific mind of the group, it was only normal for her not to be disgusted by the sight of blood. But then, it was uneasy for her to stand here and watch this man suffer. Okay, she admitted that he'd scared the life out of her, but what they were doing was bad. Really bad.

She put it in the sink, scrubbing consciously. The blood washed away with the soap and water, disappearing quickly, yet she washed the knife over and over again. If something were to happen, at least no one would find Runo's fingerprints or hers for that matter.

This step done, she walked back inside to see Runo and the others trying to lift up the body. While Runo and Mira commented his weight - the animal was well nourished - , Julie complained about the stains he had left on her clothes, disgusted. Alice joined them and held the corpse at the front. Holding his head and guiding him with as little damage as possible, she could swear she heard him mutter something about his condition. Crap. This meant they didn't have too much time.

They got him inside of the kitchen. Runo got out a black garbage bag, the king of plastic that was so big a bear could get in without much problem. Alice, her, got some rope, and wrapped it around his body with the others' help. By the time they were done, there was no more thread, and the middle-aged man looked like a chicken. Ready to roast, Runo thought bitterly. And may you roast in hell for good. She placed the bag on his head, sliding it down so to cover his roundish form completely. Before closing it, she made sure there was no extra air left inside. Feeling him move slightly, she exchanged looks with the others. Upon seeing them agree weirdly, she closed the bag tightly with a knot. Don't worry, sir, we're making this easier for you.

They were almost done now. They proceeded to carry him outside, to the café's garbage bin. With all the force they had remaining, they threw the bag among the other black bags in the bin. Exhaling deeply, they closed the lid.

The dim light lit them as they went back inside, panting heavily, hurrying to clean up the mess in the kitchen and at the table where the victim had been.

Correction, Runo thought, as she stopped at the door, letting her gaze divert itself to the bin. He was not a victim. In her book victims were innocent and represented a high loss. She closed the door behind her, making sure it was well locked.

He hadn't been innocent. And no one would miss him.

Her thoughts had distracted her. So distracting that she hadn't heard the flick of a camera close to her.

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**A/N: Remember when I told you that I had this exam to revise for? Well, it's not the only thing keeping me from going on the computer to write. Since I'm half a Muslim, I have to do this funny diet most Muslims do: it's pretty much fasting, I guess. I have to wake up at 5AM to eat and drink something, and then I don't have the right to eat or drink until the afternoon at an exact hour. It implies not only no eating or drinking, but also sacrifice. Or, as my parents say, NO COMPUTER AND NO INTERNET. Great. This means that I'll try to write well the following chapters as fast as I can. I'll update, yes, but I might not do it regularly. I have every intention of continuing and finishing this story.**

**Also, do you guys know good Bakugan Battle Brawlers fan fiction in Spanish? Preferably not too long and complex ones with Alice/Shun in it? I've only done Spanish for three years, and I'm still bad at it. If you know any, please send me titles! And, would you guys be interested by a Bakugan Battle Brawlers/Vampire Diaries crossover? Just saying, I thought that it might be cool to do something like that? With Shurisu of course ^^**

**Last but not least, do you know any website where I could download wattpad stories? I know that there's a mobile app for this, but I don't have Internet on my phone and I'd like to have a pc app. For the moment, I'm downloading stories from , and the quality is great.**

**If you ask me: yes. Yes I already know what I'll write about in the next chapter. I'm not giving you spoilers. I can just say that things are getting complex ;)**

**Opinions?**


	5. Secret Admirer?

**A/N: Hello, hello, dear readers, let's start this new chapter with some feedback.**

**Maiden Warrior: Thanks for the love, sweetheart! =D It's funny to see you react to the scene like that, guess it's more exciting when you're reading instead of writing the chapter. Send my love to Kirby and Aya too! These too are so cute, it's like they are a lesbian version of Dan and Runo in the series(if you consider the way they treat each other). It's no problem, really, they are really cute together ^^**

**S. S. R: Why in a swimming pool? Jenny could get killed anywhere - just saying... Yes, it's a murder, and this is fiction. Don't worry about all the forensic stuff, I got it in check :)**

**i WnT 2 NoE: Funny, this is the most accurate surname I've ever seen. The man Runo killed was a critic in gastronomy. For further details, read the following chapter :) Thanks for reviewing!**

**InnocentDiamond: Well, Alice could have done that, but I chose to give her some back story. Getting in top classes would surely make her stressed. This, combined with her sickness, would not help her feeble condition. I'm not the hugest fan of perfume, I hardly wear it. And about the wallpaper of Shun unconscious, is it the one with a caption saying that he's sexy even unconscious? I think I had it saved for, hum, later use. And yes, this IS a murder, and like I said earlier, this is FICTION. And I already got plans in mind for the girls, don't worry :)**

**Masquelarede99: For the secrets it's kind of late to ask, I'm sorry of this. If you want me to though, I can try to make arrangements for later. And...about Alice's secret being loving Masquerade...it's really imposible. I wrote this story having in mind ShunxAlice, and I can't take it back. At least not now. Maybe in another story...**

**Cup of Violet Tea: Yup, can't help it. That's the kind of things that happens when you're in love. It's okay, though, it's almost like I don't know any Spanish at all, I'm so bad at it ^^**

**Guest reviewer: Excuse me, but...wtf? I mean, when I said that I needed secrets, I meant to choose from the list I gave. And…yeah again, wtf?**

**Well, well, what can I say? Thanks for a first, thanks to you all for making this story happen! Without you I'd be nowhere :) This week was pretty uninteresting, since I've mostly been revising and trying to find ways of writing this chapter. Today was more exciting though. For the first time in a month, I went out with my best friend and her sister to shop. Which meant, all fun and no revising..or writing. I got a lot to do if I want to keep all your attention. One more week and I can say adios to revising, which might mean more writing time! Can't wait!**

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**Previously on Secrets Can Kill:**

**The dim light lit them as they went back inside, panting heavily, hurrying to clean up the mess in the kitchen and at the table where the victim had been.**

**Correction, Runo thought, as she stopped at the door, letting her gaze divert itself to the bin. He was not a victim. In her book victims were innocent and represented a high loss. She closed the door behind her, making sure it was well locked.**

**He hadn't been innocent. And no one would miss him.**

**Her thoughts had distracted her. So distracting that she hadn't heard the flick of a camera close to her.**

* * *

**I'm not going to give you spoilers because I hate them, and I was always told not to give things to people that you wouldn't like to have. Yeah...still, are you sure that you don't want one? Like, one teeny little hint? All I can say is...things are getting complex. Here and in the other chapter. So stay tuned for more!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bakugan Battle Brawlers, just the OCs.**

**P.S.: I suggest you listen to the song "Devils" by Say Hi, from the Scream 4 soundtrack. I had in in rewind while writing this chapter, plus Florence + The Machine's "Seven Devils". But Devils says it better in my opinion. I heard that Pretty Little Liars' opening (The Pierces - Secret) is good too. I'm not a fan of the series, but it's kind of suiting.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Secret Admirer?**

Watching Julie sleep at the back of the car made Alice feel some pity for her Australian friend. She felt bad for her, her along with Mira and Runo. They were all tired from the previous night, yet where Runo should have been the most exhausted of them all, Julie had. She'd puked twice, yesterday night after cleaning up, and a second time this morning, during breakfast. They knew the feeling.

The ride to Bayview High was silent, save from the wind blowing through the car windows and Julie's light snoring. From her seat, Alice could see Mira leaning against her windows, her knees brought up and her whole body curled into a ball. She didn't need to see her face to see that she was tired. Runo had more trouble, she could tell. The lack of sleep was playing tricks on her, her eyes threatened to close themselves at any moment. Considering how unusually slowly she drove this morning, Alice had suggested driving at her place, but Runo had refused. It was probably best that way, she thought, gazing outside at nothing in particular. When was the last time the car had been so silent? When was the last time the group had been in this half-asleep state? That would have been last year, during their finals week. Back when Alice and Mira studied at the back, and Julie and Runo would argue on their lessons at the front, when Julie was not sleeping from hours of studying.

They hadn't spent hours studying, yesterday night.

After holding back Julie's hair while she let out her dinner down the toilet, they had cleaned about everything there was to clean. Luckily, Runo's parents hadn't turned up before midnight or something. Julie and Mira took care of the restaurant, making sure there wouldn't be evidence left from what happened. They scrubbed all traces of blood in the room and in the kitchen. Alice did the same at the back, collecting all leaves fallen on the ground and verifying the scene with a torch. Changing her attitude according to the behaviour required in forensics, she scanned everything, taking time to see if people could have witnessed their scene last night. Even with the street lamps on, no one could have seen them in the darkness of the backyard. Also, she made sure that the body was still there. When she went back inside, she confirmed that he was still there and dead for good. The statement almost made Julie faint, but she caught herself. She went to help Runo check the cameras in their special room, then. It hadn't caught much, except a flicker of the group where you only saw a portion of their backs and nothing else. Still, they decided to be careful and deleted the night's recording.

Before going to sleep, the girls took time to go through the stuff they'd taken from the man. He had little things on him, yet enough to see what he was like. Only handkerchiefs, a watch they buried with him, a pocket knife and, most important of all, a wallet. Inside, they found an ID card, where the man looked every bit as bad as he had hours earlier. Jacob Hobbes, the card said. Along with it they found cards from restaurants he'd probably gone too, a bus ticket, keys, phone numbers and an address to his apartment. No business or credit card, no family picture - the card clearly said that he was unmarried - and no cash. Confirms that he hadn't planned to pay at all, Runo had said on a bitter note before going to sleep. They had the wallet hidden in one of the drawers in Runo's wardrobe. Initially they had wanted to bury it somewhere, yet the blunette had decided of something else. The girls went to bed uneasily, a bad feeling in mind.

For once, Alice hadn't dreamed of Jessica's lifeless body lying on the pavement. Last night, Jacob Hobbes' corpse was chasing her in the Misaki's café, reconverted into a labyrinth. The halls kept getting smaller and smaller. At some point, he'd caught her, and as he was about to stab her with a kitchen knife, she'd screamed, waking her up. When she saw the other's expressions upon running to her for help, she could tell their sleep had been as restless as hers.

Alice glanced at herself in the car's mirror. The dream had kept her awake since 3 or 4 AM, and she had been too scared to try to get some sleep back. Like the others, she'd borrowed the makeup set Julie had given Runo for Christmas, which had remained unused for a long time. Despite the layer of light powder she'd put, she could still see dark circles under her eyes. On others nights she always managed not to get them, the ghost of Jessica leaving her alone, but last night was another story.

She leaned against the cold windows, hugging herself. You should stop thinking about it, girl. If she let bad thoughts get to her, today would be so monotone and boring. School days often were, what with the science lessons she already knew off by heart and the daily injections of serum for her sickness. Today would be slightly different. For the first time in days, she would see Klaus. Alice hadn't heard much of him, what with him being on a business trip to Hong Kong. She had thought of calling him, but something inside her hadn't wanted to. She'd wanted to see if he would react and call her first, just to see if he was worried about her. In three days he hadn't given a single sign of life. All she knew was that he would be there today; he'll probably get me to sit next to him in English instead of next to Mira, she thought. He might even get me to hang out at his table during lunch.

She sighed a bit. None of these plans made her smile much. Not that she didn't like Klaus; he was nice when he wanted to, and he was an okay friend. That was all he could ever be to her, a friend. She didn't share his feelings, she didn't love him the way he did when he was with her. Their relationship was pretty much professional in a way. She went out with him, and she got something in return; he dated her, and he gave her what she wanted. It worked that way, and it was good enough for her.

Yet these days, Alice had found herself wanting something more, something even Klaus couldn't afford with all his money: love. Like most girls her age, she wanted love, even though it wasn't really a priority. She wanted someone who would share her feelings, someone with whom she had common interests, someone with whom she could be happy, someone with whom she could feel...feel...human. Klaus was always overprotective and careful, and it annoyed her. If only he didn't treat her like a porcelain doll threatening to break any moment...

Klaus wasn't the one for her, he would certainly never be. The only person who could possibly be was already taken, anyway.

Her eyes closed slightly, yet the car suddenly went to a halt on the way, which got her wide awake.

They were in the parking lot, she realized. Parked and ready to go. She sighed, grabbed her bag and got out of the car.

On the opposite side, Julie yawned and was helped by Mira and Runo to get outside. The painkillers Mrs Misaki had given her this morning still had their effect on, and she walked in a state of slumber, the sleep still in her eyes. The cool air on the parking made them shiver. There weren't many students outside, most of them already behind the gates. It only added to the silence amongst the group.

As Runo went to help Julie to walk and grab her bags, she tried to break the silence as well. "Got any plans for today, gals?"

To Alice's surprise, her friends' faces lit up like a kid's at Christmas; bless you Runo, she thought with a grin on her lips.

"Oh well," Mira started, "I got study hall and then English and then lunch. If I can, I'll get Ace out of the room and somewhere comfier."

"Ooooh," the girls squealed, then exploded in a giggles fit. Now that was the group atmosphere they liked!

Julie took part in it." I know a good classroom or too if you need advice. Billy and I might see you on the way, wouldn't that be great!"

Their laughter intensified, getting them in hysterics, At some point, they all had their hands clutched to their stomach, unable to breathe properly.

"If we can, we'll try and drag Dan and Runo with us, and maybe Shun and Alice too!" Julie added gleefully, making the two concerned blush.

"Hah, in your dreams Julie," Runo said, her cheeks still a red shade. "Same here," Alice added.

"Come on, you know you want to," Mira pressed them teasingly. Both girls rolled their eyes.

"Whatever," Alice said, her face regaining their natural colour. "Mira, walk me to the infirmary, please?"

She nodded." As you wish, my queen." She said, winking.

Julie joined them. "Wait for me! I might need some aspirin or something for my stomach."

"Your stomach? Julie, you don't use aspirin for your stomach, for God's sake," Runo groaned while she locked the car.

The Australian shrugged. "Whatever."

The four of them walked to the entrance, a smile on their face for the first time in less than 24 hours. This day could turn out well after all, Alice wondered while opening the gates.

Oh, if only she knew.

* * *

In the end, Alice was left alone with Julie inside the infirmary. It was nice, in a funny way, to have someone by her side when she usually went alone inside.

Most people dreaded the sight of anything linked to hospitals, one way or another. Alice, on her part, loathed both hospitals and infirmaries. She had been to enough hospitals and clinics to hate the single thought of going inside one. The white tiled floor and painted wall made her stomach churn, and the scent of medicine and blood made her want to vomit. It was even worse when you were always sick.

At least, the school architects had the decency of making the room look like a child's room. It was blue and green, decorated with posters of the human anatomy, and the dangers of smoking or - Alice frowned at the sight - having unprotected sex. It looked okay anyway, comfy with the small bed where she laid and the cushions and chairs. Still, it hadn't kept Julie from vomiting. She watched with concern as her friend got out of the bathroom, her hands holding her belly. The doctor's assistant got out after her, holding a thermometer between his fingers.

"Your temperature is pretty high, Julie," he said, studying the red line." Are you sure you don't want to stay?"

"Mmm, I'll be fine, don't worry for me!" The silver-haired girl said in a voice too weird for Alice's liking. She raised an eyebrow. Hang on; was she actually flirting with him? Apparently, the answer was yes, since Julie batted her eyelashes and behaved like an idiot. Oh well, she thought rolling her eyes, typical Julie.

"Fine then, you can go," he said, getting some pills for her. "Just take those if the nausea settles back again. If you start to get a fever, just get back here and I'll give you something else," he added in a cool voice.

Julie frowned, and then shrugged. "Sure," she said. Before getting outside, she looked at Alice and mouthed the word "gay" on her lips. It made the red-headed teen smile.

"Ah, you're smiling! You should do it more often; you look so healthy like that." The assistant said, approaching her with his material and notebook.

"But I always do, Ren! You're just not looking," she replied, her smile growing larger.

Ren smiled in return. "You must be right." Alice liked him, not in the same way the other girls at school did. With him being the new assistant for the infirmary, girls had been going in and out more often than usual. He simply ignored them, except for Alice. She was the only girl who didn't put on the moves on him, and she was someone great to talk to. Ren reminded her of Shun, in a friendly way; he was cold and silent around everyone yet he had a soft side when you got to know him better.

Recently he'd been assigned to her at school, as her special doctor. He'd already prepared his material to do his diagnostic.

"So, tell me," he started, sitting on a chair next to her bed, "how have you been so far? Any headache, nosebleed, or other?" He had her open her eyes wide, examining them with his torch. She shook her head negatively. "Okay then," he continued, "just open your mouth, there." He examined her throat, and then moved on to her heartbeat. "Your heartbeat is as usual. Your weight now." She went on the balance, happy to notice that she'd gained some weight. Some days, the sickness would make her starve herself, making her slimmer and bony-looking. Ren noticed the change too, and smiled. "Well, everything seems alright now. You look paler though."

Alice didn't look at him while she tied her boots, glad to feel their warmth again. "Oh, that would be me. I've had more and more exams these days; I don't get much free time. Most of the time, I use it to study." When she looked him in the eye again, she quickly added, "Really it's nothing. Just stress." It was partly true, after all. On days when the nightmares and her work at the café didn't get all of her energy, her studies did. Despite her advanced knowledge and extra lessons, she always wanted to work harder so to reach her grandfather's level. She simply wanted to make him proud.

Ren didn't look completely convinced, yet he nodded. "If you say so...but I want to see colours back on your cheeks next time I see you! And so does your grandfather. When is he coming back anyway?" He gestured at the bed, and she laid back again. Alice thought for a moment. "Hum, on Sunday, in the afternoon." She pushed up her sleeve, revealing her pale arm. Ren nodded again, placing a thread under her upper arm and making a tight knot. Instantly, bright blue veins popped out, surfacing on the flawless, almost translucent skin. Delicately, he placed the needle on a vein, poking at it lightly. A drop of blood appeared, its rich colour made Alice wince a bit. Slowly, he injected the serum in the vein. Both watched the syringe empty, Alice's gaze fixed on the product.

A moment later, it was empty. Ren slowly got out the needle, placed it on the bed side, and then rubbed the spot where it had penetrated the skin with some alcohol. Then he placed a small bandage on it. Alice lowered back her sleeve.

"Thanks, Ren," she whispered while smiling at him. Where most girls had to call him Mr Krawler, she was the only one allowed to call him by his name.

He gave a small grin in return. "No problem. Make sure Klaus doesn't know you did the injection without him around".

Alice sighed, yet nodded. Klaus, being the saver he thought he was, estimated that it was his right to watch Alice get her injection, since he paid for it and the medicine accompanying it. When he was jealous, nothing could possibly stop Klaus. "Yeah right."

She got back on her feet. The silence set itself between them, and she watched him pack his stuff.

A knock interrupted them.

There, on the doorstep, was Fabia.

She narrowed her eyes, sensing that something was up. "Am I interrupting something?"

Ren straightened, and so did Alice. "Huh? Oh no, no, it's okay. Come in, come in."

Alice glanced at him. Funny, he looked so nervous suddenly, like a kid seen doing something bad. And did he actually stutter?

"Hi Fabia," she greeted her friend, her usual smile back on her lips. "I'll go then, see you in PE Fabia." She slung her bag on her shoulder, and got out of the room, not without glancing back again at the two people remaining in the infirmary.

* * *

"Well, that was close," Fabia's voice whispered next to him. He watched through the glass as Alice ran away, probably to her locker. He simply muttered a small "Yeah" at the girl.

She noticed his distraction, and got him to look at her in the eye. "You look weird. Does she...does she know?"

He shook his head, now facing her. To make it more reassuring, he let a small, playful smile curl itself on his lips. "Nope." He put his arms around her waist, pushing her closer to him. "Does he know?"

It was Fabia's turn to shake her head, responding to his smile with an equal grin.

She turned to close the door and lock it behind her, Ren's arms circling her again before locking the room.

* * *

She thought of Ren's attitude back in the infirmary some more, then diverted her trail of thoughts to something much more...interesting.

Alice felt his presence before she actually saw him. He had a dark aura, one of mystery, the kind that his fan girls both loved and shuddered at. She didn't feel any of these. He simply was a living mystery all by himself, and Alice Gehabich loved mysteries.

Shun leaned against the opposite lockers, like he had yesterday, only his eyes were closed. He must be meditating, she reflected. He often did that when fan girls weren't around, or Fabia, or Dan, or Billy. In fact, he did it mostly when people weren't around at all. But then, why does he have to have this frown permanently stuck on his face? Maybe he's thinking negative again, she guessed. It would be like him.

She never really got what it was, about this darkness inside him that attracted her. He was quite unusual in his own way. She had never met a ninja before him, after all. He was special. Unlike the other guys, he had many qualities - at least, in academic and physical domains. He was intelligent, good at about every sport, and he absolutely did not care about girls. At all. For all she knew, he hated his fan girls and didn't look at anyone of the female gender.

Except for Fabia...

So far, she had never seen him being this close to a girl. She hadn't once imagined that he would let anyone tag along with him, follow him everywhere without complaining, do romantic stuff with him...the usual boyfriend/girlfriend cliché. Because she was used to people opening up to her, she had believed that he would do the same. Get close to her, be her friend, feel something deeper than friendship towards her...fall for her.

Well, guess you got your hopes way too up, girl, she thought. She didn't have anything against Fabia for that. She had always nursed her personal fantasy after all. And fantasies were fantasies, not reality.

She thought of this while looking down at her boots' dark brown polish, her elbow leaning along the cool painted metal of the lockers. She lifted up her head, forcing herself to think about something else.

Her gaze instantly locked with his when their eyes met.

His amber eyes held her chocolate ones, before she shyly turned back her head.

What the hell just happened?

Oh nothing, he just looked at you with those eyes of his. Those god damn eyes, with their -

STOP. Her brain reacted in time, yet wasn't fast enough to keep her cheeks from heating up and her heart from beating like a drum. It jumped frantically, like a bomb ready to explode inside her chest. She got her hand against it, imploring it to calm down.

But what is happening to me?

What was it that makes me act like an idiot whenever he's around?

She tried her best not to look at him, and succeeded. To make it look like she was busy, she fumbled with her locker's keys. It was only half pretending, her nervousness having rubbed off her. She did have trouble getting her keys. Finally she managed to find the right key and get the locker to open. Nice work, Alice, now you don't look like an idiot to him anymore, do you? No, not at all. You just look like a double idiot.

Get a hold of yourself, she thought, getting her books out and stuffing them in her bag one by one. Why think of him when you have more important things to worry about?

She was going to close her locker, when she caught the glimpse of a paper at the back, placed on a book. Curious, she took him carefully between her fingers.

It was an envelope, sealed and immaculate, its colour close to a pink-ish white with hints of lavender. The handwriting was neat, cursive, done in black ink without any stains, There, on the other side, was her name: Alice. Simple, yet elegantly done. That was it.

Who could that be from? She wondered. It could be a card, or a love letter. Being one of the popular girls in Bayview, she received this kind of letters on a regular basis, she along with the others in the group. She always read them when she had time, and always kept them, even the badly-written ones. After all this time, she still got overexcited over small things like that. This letter didn't look so different from the others, yet there was something about it that had an appeal. Maybe it was the fact that it was addressed to her specifically, and to no one else, considering that her name was on it. Bringing it closer to her face, she sensed a trace of perfume. Something sweet, perhaps strawberry or vanilla...or was it lavender?

It was hard to resist temptation, and she moved her fingers to the lid, sliding a nail under it to open the envelope.

Until...

"Alice!"

* * *

Hearing her name called out loud so suddenly made her jump, and she realized that someone was calling her. Alice turned her head in time to see Klaus coming towards her.

Well, crap.

She quickly slid the envelope inside her bag, and ran towards her boyfriend.

Yes, her boyfriend. Why was she labelling him as such when he wasn't? Probably because he wanted her to, she didn't really know. It only felt natural, as Klaus's girlfriend, to run to him to meet him. This, and she had missed him. Right? As a friend, at least.

Before she'd realized, Alice had wrapped her arms around Klaus in a welcoming hug, closing her eyes to enjoy the moment. It took a moment for her to get that Klaus didn't mirror her actions.

Realizing what was up, she quickly pulled away. "Klaus! Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to. I know it's against your etiquette, but -"

"No, it's okay, Alice, really, it is," he cut her. She sighed in content. Klaus might be her boyfriend, and she his girlfriend, but she still had to follow the Von Hertzon's etiquette. What more was there to expect, then, from an old-fashioned family whose descendants were royalty? Public demonstration of affection was, as she'd been told, forbidden in the family, yet Klaus was more liberal when they were alone.

She gave him an apologizing smile. "Yes, but I'm sorry anyway. Guess that I -I missed you," she added stuttering. It was a lie. She hadn't missed him at all, enjoying her liberty at the most during his four-day absence.

He didn't seem to get it, thankfully." I missed you too." Then he hugged her, his arms hesitant around her waist. The movement made her both sad and annoyed; sad and a tad heartbroken that he meant it, annoyed that he still treated her like a porcelain doll or a kid. Still, she wrapped her arms back around him. Deep inside, she needed some comfort after last night, and he could at least give her that. She had her head pressed inside his shoulder, the fabric of his expensive grey suit caressing her cheek. His smell was quite reassuring in a way; well-polished shoes, freshly-ironed clothes, and...was that cologne?

His hand ruffled her hair lightly, the other pulling her away so he could examine her. He touched her cheek delicately.

"Well, you look pale, darling, what happened to you?" He asked.

She simply shrugged. "Exams keeping me up later," she simply answered.

He didn't seem as satisfied with the answer as Ren earlier. "Mmm. And what about the pills? Have you been taking them daily?"

She nodded. "Yes. Two after every meal, gobbled down with a glass of water."

He narrowed his eyes. "And what about the injections?"

She had to lie on that, and did so swiftly, without much hesitation. "Last Friday, when you were here." She sighed. "Done with the interrogation yet?"

He seemed offended, despite her soft tone. "Please, Alice, don't take it that way. As your boyfriend, I ought to know if everything's all right with you."

"Yes, of course you do." He didn't perceive the slight sarcasm in her words. Probably because they were almost whispering, he couldn't hear it.

He simply smiled that posh smile of his, to which she responded with one of hers. "I'm glad that we can get on with this well! Let's go then, or we'll be late for class."

Alice nodded, letting him peck her quickly on the lips, and then wrap his arm around her shoulder. Both made their way to their first class of the day.

On the way to class, Alice thought about the letter in her bag. Temptation burned her, and threatened to consume her anytime.

She didn't think about anything else than that, hardly sensing the burning glare on her back.

* * *

**A/N: Well, that was something. I'm kind of a bit disappointed with the way it turned out, since I expected to do something more…well, more exciting. Still, I had that freaking deadline that I had to respect before my exams, and I didn't have much extra time to write. Still, I swear that things will become more exciting by the next chapter. It's a promise!**

**I'll have this big exam on Thursday, day where I won't be writing at all, since I have this French exam. During the following days, I'll try to put some suspense in the story. So please stay tuned to it, the fun has yet to come!**

**Well then, what do you say?**


	6. Your Secret Keeper

**A/N: You know what's on my list of top priorities right now? Continue this story is a thing. Giving each of you a double high-five and a box full of cookies is at the peak. Why? Because you're all worth it, and you are all awesome like that! I can never thank you all enough, for taking time to read the story and leave an opinion. A thousand thank you to you lot!**

**If you thought that I was dead, then you're wrong. Sorry if these news disappointed any of you, but hey, life is life; you can't always have everything you want. And I apologize for the absence, and the horribly-long hiatus. I meant to write that chapter as soon as I finished the exams - I swear! - but I got carried away. Blame it on the Internet. Now that I got everything I need - aka new dvds, new music and enough courage to start a new chapter - we can move to the reviews!**

**InnocentDiamond: Fanfics, indeed. At first I said it as a joke, but I might consider writing a crack-fic or something more dramatic; we'll see that when I get time and inspiration, deal? :) And just saying, I stick to the English/French version of Bakugan, since in those versions Shun's mother is in a coma. I don't feel like hurting Shun's feelings - or anyone's for that matter. I don't believe I actually have the guts to come up with such drama. I like Shun enough to know that I don't want to see him suffer. Next. Shun doesn't look at Fabia, he just pretends he does, when he's not. He looks at Alice, though. It shows in the stare the two shared; when I was on that part it kept screaming "sexual tension" in my head. The amount of sexual tension I have in mind for them... Don't worry; I'll try to get Klaus out of the picture as soon as I can. On Alice's sarcasm, I had a hard time 'cause I was afraid that it would make her ooc, you see. It's harder than I thought, to represent Alice's personality in something so serious. Klaus is THIS stupid. And ah, the letter does smell sweet, but the content is not as appealing... Just saying.**

**Cup of Violet Tea: The relationships are not exactly similar, careful! Shun only bothers to talk to Fabia because of their mutual secret: I'm using you for my own reasons. Else, they ARE friends, but they aren't this close. Ren and Alice is something else, too. They first have a professional relationship, but it evolved into friendship. Hey, conspiration sticks to the title: my secret can kill! No more nightmares of Jessica for the moment, but more nightmares are coming...or not? Alice needs as much rest as she can, what with Klaus back on the field, I don't want to bother her with too much moral pressure. Yes, no more "freedom" for Alice. Klaus definitely NEEDS to give her some space and fresh air.**

**Maiden Warrior: MAIDEN WARRIOR! Come on, darling, breathe, breathe! Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale...come on, don't leave me like that! Hehe I love you too much to lose you, you know that? So don't you dare faint and leave me alone, hear it? ;) Drama, drama and drama over again, yeah - AND REN! Thanks for the love again, and get well soon! Oh, and again: BREATHE.**

**S. S. R : Funky? Sure, if you say so. I'm not giving out spoilers, but you got one nice theory other there... It's safe to say that I never heard of antacids - there's actually a word like that existing out there in the world? I don't know, science is not exactly my forte. Shun's glance doesn't have anything to do with Ren and Fabia, really, it's just teenage frustration and love, I would say. Can't remember why that letter was supposed to smell good, though. And it's killing me too, in its own way!**

**pooch pooch: Hello there, new reader! Thanks for the compliment, also! A youth tv show? I'm interested, please message me when you get the title - are you sure it isn't Pretty Little Liars? Again, thanks a lot for reviewing!**

**Can I just say something? I logged on a few days earlier to check on the new stories and reviews when I noticed it. The change. On the filters. Everywhere. I'll be honest with you guys, I FUCKING HATE IT. Off all updates Fanfiction had to do, they had to do THIS. I do understand that you can now add more characters in the search engine, and it's really nice and stuff, but still...the horror.**

**Let's not get the negativity rub off on us, okay? Or this hiatus will only get longer. I hope to finish this chapter before my sister comes back to Mauritius, or I won't have so much time to kill on my story for the rest of the holidays. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the fifth chapter of Secrets Can Kill!**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Your Secret Keeper**

One would have said of Julie Makimoto that she wasn't herself if she didn't complain at least a dozen of times every day. Julie was no drama queen, far from it. She simply couldn't help it. In her actual condition, it was more than natural coming from her.

Her forehead made contact with her locker's metallic door. The cool material felt nice on her flushed skin, yet it didn't soothe her pains. Despite the painkillers Ren had given her earlier, a massive headache had established itself inside her head, drumming on her skull's sides. It wasn't all fun and games. She felt like dying right now, right on the spot, clutching her stomach. Instead of making her better, the medicine made her worse.

Inside the room, cheerleaders came in and out, fled around her like overexcited flees locked in a jar. The cheerleading training had just ended for them, the girls hurried to the showers. Julie had waited for them inside the changing-room; a sudden pain had kicked in in the middle of her performance, and had forced her to excuse herself to the bathroom, where she let out most of the remaining from her dinner and breakfast. Her coach and team mates had been surprised by her behaviour. If there was some subject Julie didn't ditch at school and showed complete faith to, it was cheerleading, It counted as a subject, and compensated for all of her classes below average. It's not that Julie isn't intelligent. She is, yet threw all of her mind in her cheerleading training. She was simply dedicated.

Julie felt a hand on her shoulder. A fellow cheerleader looked down at her with concerned eyes. "You okay, Julie?"

She quickly nodded, not wanting to worry her. "Yeah, don't worry. I'm good...period, you know?"

It seemed normal to say it, since she usually had pains this strong on periods. Only she didn't stay that calm during her times of the month, and she didn't hurt this much. It didn't bother the girl though, as she nodded herself in an understanding manner. "Ah, it's that! It'll be okay, just go to the infirmary if it gets worse." Finishing, she walked away to her locker, leaving Julie to her own troubles.

She straightened as much as she could, leaning along the metallic locker. Others before her team mate had approached her to try to understand what was up, and she'd given them the same answer. Cheerleaders, she reflected, weren't all as mean as the ones on American TV. They did stick to themselves yet were capable of solidarity towards each other. There were a few exceptions, such as Jenny and her clique, the cliché clique and school-bitch of Bayview. Still clutching her stomach, she glanced sideways at the girl, going through her hot fuchsia locks with a brush, the other hand retouching her lips with gloss. Classical antagonist, she thought.

Her reflections ceased with a new pain kicking in her belly. Julie groaned, the back of her head hurting the locker. She would have to go to the infirmary again, yet she didn't want to. She didn't feel like going back to see Ren and ask for some more pills. He looked pretty annoyed earlier, and if she were to go she'd have to get Alice to tag along. The red-head was easily the only girl he seemed to appreciate. But then, she thought turning back to the contents of her locker and undressing, everyone likes Alice. She stuffed her uniform in her back, throwing in her books. When she tried to close the oversized bag, something fell from her locker. Curious, she bent down and picked up the paper fallen on the floor.

It was a letter, she could tell, the envelope in her favourite colour, a bright hot pink. Turning it, she looked over at the back. A simple word was written at the back: Julie. Her own name was on it, scribbled in a quite fashionable way. The handwriting was neat, just like calligraphy, printed on the paper in a big and cursive black handwriting.

Admirer's letter? The thought made her smile. Like many popular girls, she was used to getting fan mail, and she didn't hide it. This letter looked slightly different from the usual, though. Few fan boys - and fan girls - bothered to send her letters in envelopes this fancy; they usually went for more direct ways, like notes quickly done on pieces of paper or leaves. And none wrote this well. The girls made some effort, yet had small handwriting most of the time, not always this elegant. The boys, well, they were boys; doctor handwriting was the word. It couldn't be Billy either, he was the same if not worse.

The bell interrupted her trail of thoughts, and she simply stuck the letter in a book before moving to her next class.

* * *

"We both see that you did well, Master Runo, yet you do understand that you're not exactly worthy of this grade..."

"And now, we'll move onto the next question which, surprisingly, you almost all failed..."

Runo only half listened to Tigrerra and Mrs Suzuki's babbling, her ears receiving data and not making any use of it. The rest of the economic class was loud, too, but the noise hardly reached her. It wasn't just the sounds nearby. She hadn't even shown excitement over the test Mrs Suzuki had given back - "excellent," she had remarked upon handing her an A-graded paper, "a true example to all your classmates, Runo" -, or the prospect of having Dan sitting next to her again. Because yes, even if she wouldn't admit it, she didn't mind at all, except when he was at his worst. No, today her mind was set on something else.

She examined the letter sitting on her lap, the paper almost disappearing on her white mini-skirt's fabric. It was immaculate, clean, so close to a paper she'd mistaken it for a page when she'd found it in her agenda. The difference was, there weren't any blue lines traced on the envelope. The only thing close to blue about the letter was the single word written at the back, in a black ink close enough to midnight-blue: Runo. Her name, her own dull name, done with such an elegant twist it made her shudder. The calligraphy was perfect, too, like a piece of art ready to frame. She'd believed the letter to be some joke, yet upon examining it she'd decided not to throw it away. A shame it would be, if something were to happen to something this worthy-looking...

"Fan mail, Runo?"

Runo quickly placed the letter in a book which she shut. The pages made a soft thud when the book closed. The bluenette looked up to make eye contact with Dan Kuso, his brown eyes playful yet intrigued. She narrowed her eyes at his amused expression, trying to look annoyed. She could tell it hardly work on him, for he kept a straight face all the time. Damn you Kuso, you and your cutie smile and gorgeous eyes and -

"None of your business, Kuso!" she retorted in what she supposed was a dry tone. The last thing she needed right now was to be face to face with Dan. He didn't seem to mind, though. He raised his hands above his shoulders, palms open, in a surrendering gesture. Still, she could tell from his goofy grin that he wouldn't let her go this easily.

"No need to be so rude, you know. Is this how you treat all your friends?" His phrase had the effect of a pang inside her chest. It brought back old memories from the times when they were all kids, and they'd spent every day nagging each other. It had always been their type of friendship, in a weird way. They were always together, except for the times when he was with Shun and she with her other friends. Yet things had changed, she realized sadly. They were still friends, yet Dan had moved on. He had his own crowd now, as she had hers. All was well that way.

She shook her head, raised an eyebrow. "No, no, just you Dan." She gave him a small smile. When was the last time she had called him by his name?

He seemed startled, yet quickly responded with a grin. "Fancy way of loving me. No but really, was is this?" He suddenly became serious, if that was possible. Serious Dan was something she only witnessed during some hard-core battles, not in class.

She sighed, slightly annoyed by his insistence. "Really, nothing. At all." She turned to the black board, making it look like she was truly concentrating on what Mrs Suzuki was saying. Dan wasn't giving up, she could tell, staring at her intently. Finally he shrugged.

"Sure, if you say so," he said in a bored voice. "But who says it might not concern me?"

She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" She started to grow suspicious. What could Dan possibly have to do with this letter, which she hadn't even opened yet? Nothing, absolutely nothing probably. Unless...

"Oh, I don't know," he continued in the same tone. "School stuff, you see. We are both only children, might be mail from the secretary."

"Huh, sure," Runo's voice replied, playing with a blue strand from her pigtails.

"Or," his voice trailed, suddenly closer, "test results."

His sentence almost made her choke on her saliva. She coughed a bit, feeling her skin turn several shades of pink - or was it red? What the hell?

"Hah, very funny, Dan, really." She replied between cough fits. "Seriously, where do you get all these ideas?"

It was his turn to raise an eyebrow, only he didn't look as annoyed as she'd been earlier, He grinned his usual grin, the one he used to make girls fall all over him, the one that could charm anyone of the female gender. Only the playful smile he harboured now didn't have its common effect on her. It spoke of mischief, it scared her this much.

"Oh, from everywhere, Runo, everywhere. Especially from watching you."

The bell rang before her, yet she didn't notice. Her face had already lost all colour. Winking at her, Dan packed his things and got out of the classroom with the other students, leaving behind a stunned and quite frightened Runo.

* * *

The break was already over when Mira got back to class, surprisingly not followed by Mr Grit. Other students rushed inside as she stood at the front, winking at Alice. The red-head smiled back, as her friend got back next to her seat.

"Had a good time?"

"You bet!" Mira replied, making the both of them giggle. They stopped when the teacher got inside, still exchanging a knowing smile. Everyone was settled down by then.

"You don't look like you had as much fun as I did, though," Mira whispered, gesturing with a nod to Alice's book. She had a chemistry book in her hand, next to her English books. Alice sighed.

"Huge test next hour, my friend." It wasn't just the chemistry test coming up next hour that made her look this upset. Alice Gehabich hardly stressed over a test, especially over a science one. It seemed more personal. Mira raised an eyebrow.

"Klaus?" Alice nodded. "You know what they say about long-distance relationships? I wish it worked for me." Said boyfriend had just come back yesterday, and he was already all over her again. Like the trip to Hong Kong hadn't happened at all, like he'd taken a good hundred shots of caffeine. Classes weren't so easy to follow anymore, what with him always sitting next to her and keeping her from concentrating properly. It didn't help that he was a few seats away from theirs right now, seated next to Joe. His accusing gaze almost bore a hole in Mira's head, and it took all her strength not to turn back and give him a death glare. If it weren't for Alice being excessively nice, she'd have done genocide long ago.

"I swear, if looks could kill, I'd have him down any moment," she muttered. Alice gave her a gentle yet disapproving look.

"Now Mira, don't be like that. He hasn't done anything to you, as much as I know." Mira simply rolled her eyes in response, to which Alice smiled.

"And, no offense, but you'd need more than just your gorgeous eyes to have him down. Shun could train you on that," she continued. Her cheeks flushed a bit at the end, yet she had a straight look nonetheless. It made her friend giggle.

"Now, you admit he's good at something!" Alice rolled her eyes.

"At something? Please, we both know that he's good at everything."

Mira shrugged. "Sure, except at choosing his girlfriend." She looked around, making sure no one was looking. Everyone else was talking and not taking any notice of them, Ace on his part was scribbling something on the board that she couldn't read properly. At the back, Shun was leaning back, arms behind his head, probably relaxing or meditating as usual. Next to him, Marucho was reading.

"Anyway," she started, leaning her elbow on the table, "I have something more interesting to show you." She grabbed her bag pack, fumbling with the messy books and papers. Now she had Alice intrigued. In the end, she got out her agenda, with a green paper held between the pages. It instantly caught Alice's attention.

"What's this?" she asked, regarding the paper with curiosity.

"I'm coming to it," her friend replied. "You see, after Ace and I...er, finished having fun," Alice gave her a funny look, somewhere between amusement and embarrassment, "well, I went to my locker to get my stuff. And when I was about to close it, this thing fell off and I caught it in mid-air."

Grabbing the corner between her index and middle finger, she swiftly removed the paper from the book. Alice leaned forward, trying to get a closer look at it. Without waiting, Mira handed it to her, giving her friend an encouraging smile. "Do it like Sherlock, then. So, what do you think?" A little hesitant at first, Alice curiously took the paper, in a gentle way as if the paper in her hands was made out of gold.

It wasn't made of gold at all, and it wasn't even a simple paper. It was an envelope; not of the plain kind you use at the post office, far from it. It was green, a light green similar to a ripe apple's, or at least pale enough to remind her of mint. In fact, she thought while examining it, it does have a scent of mint. Peppermint, to be more exact. There she had in her hands two of Mira's favourite things: the colour green and her favourite mint perfume. She turned the envelope. On the side where the address was usually written, Mira's name was written in a very fancy way, calligraphy done in black ink. The writing was perfect, without any single blotch or stain. It was amazingly well done, so well done t looked like it might pop out of the paper and come alive before her. It all seemed pretty familiar, too...

"Penny for your thoughts, Alice?" Mira broke her out of her daydream, and she looked up to see her gazing at her with concern. She must have been in a trance-like form for a long moment. The red-head shook her head, puzzled by the letter.

"Not sure. It does look like a love letter or a secret admirer's work, but I don't know -"

"Who could that be, then? Ace, probably, he's the only one who knows this stuff about me, no one else can relate -"

Mira suddenly paused. Alice could tell she was about as confused as her. "Yes, you were going to say?"

Mira pointed a finger at her. "No one else can relate, except for the others. You guys are the only ones who know the rest of it, right?"

Alice raised an eyebrow. "So you think that someone from the group is playing a prank on you?"

Mira nodded. "Could be that, yeah. Not you, though, I know you're not into this stuff."

"Now that you're talking of it, I know why this looks so familiar," Alice started. She grabbed her bag herself, and got out an envelope. It looked just like Mira's, only it was pink, and had her own name at the back. Mira leaned forward, examining the letter now. She narrowed her eyes, definitely confused.

She sighed. "Okay then, now I don't understand at all."

Alice shook her head, "Neither do I. Let's just wait for lunch break to go to the girls and ask, no?"

Mira thought about it for a second, and then nodded again. "Sure thing."

They turned back to face the board and Ace, who'd started a lecture on a forthcoming homework they would have to do in pairs. The pair only listened with one ear, their minds set on the mysterious letters they'd just received.

* * *

Usually, the group met on Thursdays on the parking at Runo's car. Since they had most of their common hours around lunch on Thursday, they had made it a tradition this year to have lunch together out of school, and then to come back after for their remaining classes. Mira and Alice walked together to the Impala, while Runo and Julie came separated. Julie being the last to come, the trio leaned against the car in an awkward silence, all because of the same reason even though they ignored it. It took Julie's arrival to loosen the tension, as she came to them running with an overexcited look. They winced; when Julie was in this mood most of the time, squeals and yells were to be expected. She arrived panting, a huge grin on her face.

"GUYS, GUYS, I GOT SOMETHING TO SHOW YOU! OMG THIS IS JUST -"

"LOWER IT, JULIE, JUST LOWER IT!" Runo screamed at her friend's attitude. The red-heads standing nearby sweat-dropped a bit at the scene. It had always been Runo's job to calm down Julie.

"Oh, okay, no need to yell at me! Geez..." Julie muttered. "Anyway, I just got something soooooooo cool, I so have to show it to you!"

"Can't it wait for us to arrive at the mall? If we don't hurry, up any more, we won't be in time for classes," Runo said, getting on the car's front seat. Alice and Mira shook their heads and followed suit.

"Rah, fine then," Julie's tone was slightly exasperated, yet she struggled to keep from having a fit. She got in the car herself, and the vehicle drove the quartet to the mall's cafeteria. Julie kept twitching on her plastic seat at their table, yet she managed to contain herself. The girls quickly ate burgers and gobbled down milkshakes, and finally it was time for Julie's announcement. She leaned her elbows on the table, and dug into her bag for what she was looking for. In the end, she got out a slightly crumbled piece of pink paper. Confused, the girls watched as the silver-haired cheerleader flattened her paper and explained at the same time.

"Well, you see, I was changing after cheerleading training. When I was about to close my locker, this," she pointed at the paper, "fell out. I'm not sure what this is, but I'm intrigued."

She placed the paper flatly on the table, the others leaned other to see it. The letter Julie had gotten earlier was there, the bright pink still immaculate. They turned it, to see Julie's name carefully written at the back. Smiling brightly, Julie looked up in time to see Alice and Mira exchange looks, and Runo starting to look confused. Her grin faltered a little.

"Guys," she started, growing worried, "something wrong? You look all funny suddenly."

They all glanced at each other for a moment, until Runo broke the silence. "I'm not alone, then." She sighed, and got out her own letter. The red-headed pair followed, Alice adding her letter to the small pile. "Neither are we." Mira nodded, and put her envelope at the top of the pile. The atmosphere was quite tense, the joy of sharing lunch together gone, replaced by confusion. It wasn't a secret admirer at all, Alice thought, it was certainly a prank played on all of them. She looked at the others, who all glanced at each other's' faces and at the letter piled in the centre of the table. No one seemed to notice what was happening around them. The cafeteria was almost empty by now. Even though there was still a good half hour before classes.

At some point, Alice had enough of this awkward silence that had been following them since yesterday night's events. She stretched her arm, and got out her envelope from the pile. The others watched her, bewildered. Alice examined the envelope again, before Mira grabbed her wrist. "What the hell are you doing, Alice?! Are you out of your mind?"

She simply shook her head, and started to open the letter. The rest of the table didn't stop her, watching her curiously. She swiftly slit the lid open with her long nails, and got out a white paper. In the process, a bunch of photos fell out. Stopping herself, Alice put back the white paper to look at the pictures. In a matter of seconds, her naturally pink cheeks paled, losing their colours, her whole face and limbs turned white, like she was about to faint. The sole members she had which still had a small pinkish colour were her knuckles, grabbing firmly the pictures.

The others started to panic. Alice never got a reaction like that, unless..

"Alice, stop it!"

"Come on Alice, this is not funny anymore!"

"ALICE!"

No one seemed to hear them yell. The shopkeepers simply ignored them, and there weren't many clients left. Tearing the pictures from Alice's grasp, Runo looked at them, only to grow as pale as her best friend. Julie and Mira looked too, and their expressions turned grave too. Alice hadn't moved, her red curls falling on her face, her eyes dark and blank. Her knuckles were grabbing something else now, and small tears started to fall from her eyes. Distressed, they grabbed the white paper she held, and read it aloud. Their voices were hoarse and raspy, like they had spent decades in the desert without drinking a single drop of water, like something kept them from speaking.

* * *

_Dear Alice,_

_You don't know me, yet I know you. I'm the one who's been watching you from the shadows, the one who always stood behind you to witness all of the things you did in your whole life. I'm the one who watched you both at your best and your worst, I'm the one who watched and judged all of your actions. You don't know me, and I shall introduce myself to you. To many, I'm known under various names, some gross and others flattering, yet all of them depict my real self as it is. I don't know or care of what you think of me, but you shall know me as The Secret Keeper; and from now on, you will know me as Your Secret Keeper. Not only yours, but also your friends'. I shall keep all of your secrets the way they are - secrets - , and all I require from you to do so is a token of your participation, a bit of your personal acts which might be rewarded in a close future, I hope._

_Accept to do all I want you to do, and I shall never reveal what's hidden in the darkest and deepest corners of your soul._

_Do as I say and I shall never reveal the dark affair between Mira and her English teacher._

_Do as I say and I shall never show the world how deep Julie's obsession with stealing runs in her veins._

_Do as I say and I shall never tell how easily Runo gets her way with endless cheating._

_Do as I say and I shall never let the world see how horrible you look during an epileptic seizure._

_Do as I say and I shall never lead the truth about Jacob Hobbes ' disappearance to the police._

_Do as I say and you shall never die._

_You will find my instructions soon enough in one of your letter boxes, girls. You all have one week to solve my problem. Exceed this time, and you shall never see the light of day again._

_Yours truly,_

_Your Secret Keeper._

Alice let the tears fall freely, and sobbed as the letter fell on the table, next to the pictures of Alice's last seizure.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter, I hate it. Oh God. I'm sorry that it's so badly written and too fast-paced, but it's been, what, two weeks, and I got sick of making you all wait for that chapter. So I quickly wrote this. Just saying, don't expect the next chapter to arrive too fast. My sister came a few days ago, and my parents took it as an opportunity to go out. EVERYDAY. And it's winter. Humans are crazy.**

**Just wondering, you won't mind if I don't update this story right now, no? Because I got lots of other ideas for the Bakugan section, most involving some kind of chick-lit and paranormal. I don't know, really, I also want to write for Supernatural in French.**

**Anyway, what do you guys think?**


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